f 




JOHN KNOX, 

^tje $otil of tl\e $dotti^ ^efofn\ktioi\. 



"The one man without whom Scotland, as the modern world has 
known it, would have had no existence." 

Fronde 1 ' s "History of England," Vol. X, p. 454. 



BY 

CHARLES K TRUE, D. D.. 

AUTHOR OF "ELEMENTS OF LOGIC," "LIFE OF JOHN WINTHROP," 
"SIS WALTER RALEIGH, " " JOHN SMITH," ETC. 





Copyright by 
HITCHCOCK <& WALDEN, 
1878. 



PREFACE. 



Y sources of information in preparing 
this Work are the old histories of Eng- 
land and Scotland, Froude's History 
of England, Green's History of the English 
People (a work that every one ought to 
read who would review the history of Eng- 
land), the Enclyclopaedias and especially 
the "Life of Knox," by Dr. M'Crie, "John 
Knox and his Times," by Miss Warren, and 
John Knox's Works. I have not been able 
to find a{iy American book on the subject 
above the size of a pamphlet. I write this 
book that the young who read may know 
how to value that religious freedom and inde- 
pendence we now enjoy, and learn for them- 
selves to dare to be right and to be true. 

C. K. T. 

Flushing, L. I., June 18, 1878. 



Illustrations. 



City of Edinburgh, .... Frontispiece, 
House of John Knox, Edinburgh, . . .168 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Dawn of the Reformation in Scotland — Patrick Ham- 
ilton's Martyrdom — Knox's Birth and Education — At St. 
Andrews — John Mair — Corruption of the Church — Prot- 
estants, . . Page 9 

CHAPTER II. 

Knox lectures at St. Andrews — Is persecuted — Goes 
South — Declares himself a Protestant — Death of James 
V — Martyrdom of Wishart — Assassination of Beaton — 
Knox returns to St. Andrews — Called to preach — Martyr- 
dom of John Rough, 25 

CHAPTER III. 

Siege of St. Andrews — Knox taken Prisoner, and made 
a Galley Slave — Freed, and goes to England — His Mar- 
riage — Chaplain to King Edward — Goes to Geneva, . 44 

CHAPTER IV. 

Knox — Letters to his friends in Dieppe — Goes to 
Switzerland — John Calvin — Curate of Frankfort — Dr. 
Cox's Schism — Return to Scotland — Success in preaching 
the Gospel, 69 



6 



Contents. 



CHAPTER V. 
Knox in Edinburgh— Death of Edward VI — Mary of 
Lorraine, Regent of Scotland — Knox's Efforts for Return — 
Called to Account — Appeal to the Queen Regent — Returns 
to Geneva, . 95 

CHAPTER VI. 
Knox in Geneva — Birth of his Sons — Lords of the 
Congregation write to him to return to Scotland — De- 
tained at Dieppe — Writes two Important Letters — Engages 
in the Work of translating the Bible — Publishes his Blast 
against Female Sovereignty — The Lords of the Congrega- 
tion oppose the Regent — Harlow, Douglas, Willock, and 
others protected by them — Martyrdom of Walter Milne — 
Knox starts again for Scotland — Plot of the Queen Regent 
to suppress the Reformation — Riots in Edinburgh, . .ill 

CHAPTER VII. 
Landing at Leith — Treachery of the Queen Regent — 
Powerful preaching of Knox — The Masses excited to de- 
stroy Images and Monasteries — Western Leaders inter- 
pose — Civil War — The Regent accepts Terms of Peace — But 
is unfaithful — Knox's War Trumpet — Scotland se.eks Help 
of Queen Elizabeth — Protestants driven from Edinburgh — 
Death of Henry II — Francis II — Knox and Cecil's Cor- 
respondence — Revolt against the Regent — French Troops 
hold Leith — Elizabeth sends a Fleet to Leith — Arrival of 
Winter — Death of the Regent, 136 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Treaty of Peace — First Parliament — Reformed Re- 
ligion made National — Articles of Religion — Book of Dis- 
cipline, 168 



Contents. 7 

CHAPTER IX. 
Death of Mrs. Knox — Mary and Francis II refuse to 
ratify the Treaty of Peace — Death of Francis II — Return 
of Mary to Scotland, 179 



CHAPTER X. 
Mary Stuart in Scotland — Knox preaches at St. 
Giles — His Interview with Mary — Plan of Arran to seize 
Mary — Massacre at Vassy — Knox's Second Interview — 
Jesuit Envoy, 187 

CHAPTER XL 
Lord James made Earl of Murray — Mary visits 
Huntley — His death — Execution of his Son — Dispute of 
Catholic and Protestant Preachers — Trial of Paul Meth- 
ven for Adultery — Interview with the Queen — Elizabeth and 
Mary — First Parliament under Mary — Refuses to indorse 
the Reformation — Knox preaches to the Lords — Knox's 
third Interview with Mary — She is Mad with him — Knox 



is Slandered — A Circular against Mary — He is tried and 
acquitted, 206 

CHAPTER XII. 

Knox's Second Marriage — Debate with Maitland in 
the General Assembly, 234 

CHAPTER XIII. 



Queen Mary's Marriage Projects — Lord Darnley comes 
to Scotland — Elizabeth is offended by his Marriage — Tarn- 
worth sent to Mary — Murray and his Party escape to 
England — Pursued by Mary— Elizabeth's Treachery, . 240 



8 



Contents. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Knox's Sermons offend Darnley — Forbidden to 
preach — Invited to St. Andrews — Day of Fasting — League 
against Protestants — Rizzio Assassinated, 252 

CHAPTER XV. 

Knox goes to the West — Thence to England — The 
Birth of James VI — The Murder of Darnley — Bothwell 
suspected, tried, and acquitted — He carries off the 
Queen — She pardons and marries him — The Nobles con- 
federate against her — She abdicates in Favor of her 
Son — The Coronation of James — Murray made Re- 
gent, 267 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The Hostile Barons send in their Allegiance — Parlia- 
ment meets — Murray's Regency — Escape of Mary — Battle 
of Langside Moor — Flight of Mary to England — Her 
Tragic End, 281 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Murray's Prudent Course after the Flight of Mary — 
He is assassinated — Grief at his Funeral — Lennox succeeds 
him — Elizabeth's Army under Sussex invades Scotland — 
Struggle of Factions — Second inroad of Sussex — Murder 
of Lennox — Knox goes to St. Andrews — Failing Health — 
Return to Edinburgh — Last Letter and Sermon — Death 
and Funeral, 290 

APPENDIX. 

A Sermon or Confession made by John Knox, wherein 
he proves the Mass to be Idolatry, 311 



Life and Times of John Knox. 



C^k-ptef I. 

DAWN OF THE REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND — PATRICK HAM- 
ILTON'S MARTYRDOM — KNOX'S BIRTH AND EDUCATION — 
AT ST. ANDREW'S — JOHN MAIR — CORRUPTION OF THE 
CHURCH — PROTESTANTS. 

T N 1526, the year of the appearance in Scot- 
land of Tyndale's translation of the New 
Testament in English, and five years after the Pa- 
pal Bull excommunicated Martin Luther, and he 
headed a procession of students to the Elser gate 
of Wittenberg, to cast into the flames this Bull of 
excommunication, with the canons and decretals 
of the Church of Rome, the first sparks of that 
illumination lighted in Scotland on the mind and 
heart of a young man of aristocratic rank — Patrick 
Hamilton. He took his journey to Wittenberg to 



io John Knox. 

see the great reformer, and, with his advice, en- 
tered the University of Marburg to study the 
Holy Scriptures, and to prepare himself to preach 
to his countrymen the newly discovered Gospel. 
His glowing zeal did not allow him to remain 
long at his studies, nor was it necessary. He 
saw clearly, and experienced in his own soul that 
Christ Jesus alone saves sinners by his free grace, 
not by works of penance or charity, as taught 
by the priests of a fallen Church. His preaching 
excited the anger of the Popish priests, and he 
was arrested by treachery, and taken to the Court 
of Archbishop Beaton, in the Castle of St. An- 
drews, by whom he was convicted of heresy, and 
condemned to be burnt at the stake. The cruel 
death of this first martyr of the Reformation in 
Scotland awoke the deepest sympathy of the 
people, and an inquiry into the doctrines for 
which he suffered so heroically was instituted, 
never to cease until Scotland was redeemed from 
the bondage of Popery. 

At this time there were two young stu- 
dents in the University of St. Andrews — George 



The Scottish Reformation. 



i i 



Buchanan and John Knox— destined by Provi- 
dence to attain a distinguished place in history, 
one as a poet, historian, and educator, and the 
other as a mighty preacher of the Gospel. 

John Knox was born in 1505, in a suburb of 
Haddington, now called "Knox's Walls." We 
know nothing more of his mother than that her 
maiden name was Sinclair, and of his father, ex- 
cept that he was descended from a respectable 
and wealthy landlord of Renfrew. Their intelli- 
gence and wealth may be inferred from the edu- 
cation afforded their son, which was first in the 
grammar-school of Haddington, and afterwards in 
the College of St. Salvador, in the University of 
St. Andrews, at Glasgow. The course of study 
in these institutions was meagre, — Latin, but no 
Greek nor Hebrew, the Logic of Aristotle and 
Scholastic Philosophy, and the Theology of Rome. 
The Professor of Philosophy and Theology was 
John Mair, whose mind seemed to be awakening 
from the sleep of the dark ages • and he im- 
pressed his pupils with ideas which were to under- 
lie the regeneration of Church and nation. The 



12 John Knox. 

Pope, in his view, had no claim to temporal 
supremacy, and was subject in authority to the 
General Council — excommunication was of no 
validity, if not justified by reason; that civil rulers 
were merely of human appointment, and not of 
divine right; and that the multitude of holidays 
and of monastic institutions was an evil to be 
abated. After Knox had obtained the degree of 
Master of Arts, he was made assistant teacher of 
Philosophy in his college, and rivaled his master 
in teaching and practicing the dialectic art. 

In a short time, Knox and his fellow-student, 
Buchanan, revolted against the subtle but barren 
scholasticism of the day, and devoted themselves 
to studies more congenial with their native genius. 
Buchanan chose the muses for his guide, and be- 
came distinguished in poetry and belles-lettres, and 
Knox sought revealed truth and preparation for 
the work of the ministry. When about twenty-five 
years of age, he was ordained a priest — his learn- 
ing and ability advancing him to that honor 
before reaching the age prescribed by the canons 
of the Roman Church. 



The Scottish Reformation. 13 

The course of his studies bringing him to the 
works of Jerome and Augustine, he made the dis- 
covery that the Roman Church had drifted away 
from the original Christianity in doctrine and dis- 
cipline, and he confirmed his suspicion by resort- 
ing to the New Testament, and making a critical 
and thorough study of its contents. This change 
in his convictions took place about 1535, seven 
years after the martyrdom of Hamilton, but it was 
not until seven years later that he was prepared 
to renounce the Roman communion and declare 
himself a reformer. This period was marked by 
a rapid spread of evangelical truth in Scotland, in 
spite of the most bitter persecutions, often cul- 
minating in the fires of the stake. ' ' If you burn 
any more of them/ 7 said John Lindsay to Arch- 
bishop Beaton, "take my advice, and burn them 
in cellars, for I assure you that the smoke of 
Patrick Hamilton has infected all upon whom 
it blew." 

The very scene of this first martyrdom was the 
hot-bed of the reformed doctrines. The principal 
of St. Leonard's College, of the University of St. 



\ 



I4 John Knox. 

Andrews, Garvin Logic, was a believer, and so 
successfully impressed his students with the new 
faith, that persons suspected of holding it were 
said to have " drunk at St. Leonard's well." The 
next martyr was Henry Forrest, a young Benedict- 
ine monk, who was charged with having an En- 
glish translation of the New Testament. " He 
suffered death at the north Church-stile of the 
Abbey Church of St. Andrews, to the intent that 
the people of Forfar and Angus might see the 
fire, and so might be afraid of falling into the 
like doctrine, which they call heresy." The clergy 
seemed to have their own way with these terrible 
persecutions, unchecked by the civil authorities. 
James V was present at the martyrdom of five 
of the best men in his kingdom. One of them 
was Thomas Forrest, Vicar of Dollar. He alone, 
of all the Scottish priests, preached every Sabbath 
to his people. He freely warned them against 
the purchase of indulgences. "There is no par- 
don for our sins that can come to us, either from 
the Pope or any other, but only by the blood of 
Christ." He was in the habit of studying the 



The Scottish Reformation. 15 

Scriptures from six in the morning until midday, 
and every day he committed to memory three 
chapters of the Sacred Text, and repeated them 
to his servant at evening. 

He took special pains to interest young students 
in the Bible, 4 'for the old bottles," he said, " would 
not receive the new wine." When the abbot ad- 
vised him to keep his sentiments to himself, he 
replied, " Thank you, my lord; you are a friend 
to my body, but not to my soul.' 7 At his trial he 
was roughly handled. Holding up a copy of the 
Bible, his accuser said, 4 'Behold, sirs, he has 
the Book of heresy in his sleeve; that makes all 
the din and play in our kirk." "Brother," re- 
plied Forrest kindly, "God forgive you. I assure 
you, dear brethren, that there is nothing in this 
Book but the life, the latter will and testament of 
our Master and Savior Jesus Christ, penned by 
the four Evangelists for our wholesome instruction 
and comfort." "Know'st thou not, heretic," inter- 
rupted Lauder, "that it is contrary to our express 
commands to have a New Testament or Bible in 
English? which is enough to burn thee." And 



1 6 John Knox. 

burnt to death he was in the presence of his 
sovereign, and not a finger was lifted to protect 
him and his companions from the dreadful doom. 
The dread of martyrdom drove many of the best 
citizens of Scotland into exile, among whom were 
Garvin Logie, Alexander Seatoun, Alexander Aless, 
John M'Bee, John Fife, John Macdowal, John 
Mackbray, George Buchanan, James Harrison, 
Robert Richardson. 

But all this time the people were studying the 
question involved in these martyrdoms, and pri- 
vately and secretly reading Tyndale's version of 
the New Testament. Multitudes embraced the 
new faith, and not only the common people, but 
nobles and gentry of every rank. Among the 
number were, William, Earl of Glencairn ; Alex- 
ander, Lord Kilmaurs; William, Earl of Errol ; 
William, Lord Ruthven ; John Stewart, son of 
Lord Methven; Sir James Sandiland and his entire 
family; Lillias, the daughter of Lord Ruthven, 
and wife of the Master of Drummond; Sir David 
Lindsay; Erskine of Dun; Melville of Raith; 
Balnaves of Halhill; the laird of Lauriston ; 



The Scottish Reformation. 17 

William Johnston, Advocate; Robert Alexander, 
Advocate; and many merchants, especially of 
Dundee, Leith, and Montrose, by whose means, 
notwithstanding the public edict of prohibition, 
the Scriptures translated by Tyndale, and the 
books of Luther and other reformers of the Con- 
tinent, were imported into the country, and sold 
to such as dared to buy. Sir David Lindsay 
was the court poet and satirist, and he contributed 
to the reformation by satirizing the corruptions of 
the clergy. 

The depth of depravity in doctrine and morals 
to which the Popish Church had sunk can hardly 
be exaggerated. The world has no sadder page 
in its history than the fall of the Christian religion 
during the Middle Ages. So early as the twelfth 
century, Walter De Bull, the Welsh bard, describes 
the unbounded greed, indolence, licentiousness, 
and drunkenness of the clergy. 

"When the Church (in the twelfth century), 
jealous of the popularity of the legends of chivalry, 
invented, as a counteracting influence, the poem 
of the sacred dish, San Graal, which held the blood 



1 8 John Knox. 

of the cross, invisible to all eyes but those of the 
pure in heart, the genius of a court poet, Walter 
de Map, wove the legends together, sent Arthur 
and his knights wandering over sea and land in 
quest of the San Graal, and crowned the work by 
the figure of Sir Galahad, the type of ideal knight- 
hood, without fear and without reproach."* 

Walter was one of the remarkable men who 
stand before us as the representatives of a sudden 
outburst of literary, social, and religious criticism 
which followed the growth of romance and the 
appearance of a freer historical tone in the court 
of the two Henrys. Born on the Welsh border, a 
student of Paris, a favorite with the king, a royal 
chaplain, justiciary, and embassador, the genius 
of Walter de Map was as various as it was prolific. 
He is as much at his ease in sweeping together the 
chitchat of the time in his " Courtly Trifles," as 
in creating the character of Sir Galahad. But he 
only rose to his fullest strength when he turned 
from the fields of romance to that of Church re- 



* J. R. Green's » History of the English People." 



The Scottish Reformation. 19 

form, and embodied the ecclesiastical abuses of 
his day in the figure of his "Bishop Goliath." 
The whole spirit of Henry II and his court in 
their struggle with Becket is reflected and illus- 
.trated in the apocalypse and confession of this 
imaginary prelate. Picture after picture strips 
the veil from the corruption of the mediaeval 
Church, its indolence, its thirst for gain, its secret 
immorality. The whole body of the clergy, from 
Pope to hedge-priest, is painted as busy in the 
chase for gain, and what escapes the bishop is 
snapped up by the archdeacon, what escapes 
the archdeacon is nosed and hunted down by the 
dean, while a host of minor officials prowl hun- 
grily around these great marauders. Out of the 
crowd of figures which fills the canvas of the satir- 
ist, pluralist vicars, abbots "purple as their wines," 
monks feeding and chattering together, like par- 
rots, in the refectory, rises the Philistine bishop, 
light of purpose, void of conscience, lost in sen- 
suality, drunken, unchaste, the Goliath who sums 
up the enormities of all, and against whose fore- 
head this new David slings the sharp pebble of 
2 



20 



John Knox. 



the brook. Powerless to hold the wine-cup, Go- 
liath trolls the famous drinking song that a hun- 
dred translations have made familiar to us : 

u Die I must, but let me die drinking in a inn ! 

Hold the wine-cup to my lips sparkling from the brim ! 
So when angels flutter down to take me from my sin, 

'Ah, God, have mercy on this sot,' the cherubs will 
begin !" 

In Scotland, four hundred years afterward, the 
ditties circulated in the land, when the reformers 
were pulling down the monasteries, told the same 
story about Popish corruptions. 

"His cardinalles hes cause to mourne, 
His bishops are borne a backe : 
His abbots gat an uncouth turne, 
When shavellinges went to sacke. 
With burges wifes they led their lives, 
And fare better than wee. 
Hay trix, trim goe trix, under the greene wod-tree. 

His Carmelites and Jacobinis, 
His Dominikes had great adoe ; 
His Cordeilier and Augustines, 
Sanct Francis's ordour to : 
The sillie friers, money yeiris 
With babling bleerit our ee, 
Hay trix, trim goe trix, under the greene wod-tree. 



The Scottish Reformation. 21 



Had not your self begun the weiris, 
Your stepillis had bene standand yit ; 
It was the flattering of your friers 
That ever gart Sanct Francis flit: 
Ye grew sa superstitious 

In wickednesse, 
It gart us grow malicious 

Contrair your messe."* 

In our own day, 1877, a writer in Illustrated 
Missionary News, of London, says concerning the 
Roman religion in Paris : 

' 6 To this day ' religion' to the Parisian poor 
means Popery and priestcraft. A lady friend of 
ours had been visiting the patients in a hospital, 
and speaking to them of Christ and salvation and 
the love of God to sinners. She was suspected 
of 'propagande' or proselyting to the Protestant 
faith. An official entered the ward, and inquired 
before her face from the patients, had she been 
talking ' religion to them/ With one consent, 
and in all honesty, they said, 6 Not a word about 
religion ; only la morale? So our good friend Mr. 
M'All (the missionary) styles his meetings for the 



*M'Crie's "Life of Knox." 



22 John Knox. 

working classes of Paris not 'religious services/ 
but ' reunions morales.'' " 

At the period of the Reformation the Scottish 
Church was the most degraded and fallen of any 
in Christendom. Bishops and abbots surpassed 
in worldliness the most worldly of the laity. They 
struggled for promotion to the offices both of 
Church and State with all the frenzy and mad 
ambition of the worst of politicians. The inferior 
clergy got their benefices by purchase, and 
many of them held pluralities without any pre- 
tense of personal service. Preaching was gone 
out of fashion, except by Mendicant friars, who 
preached for hire the traditions of the Church. 

The private lives of the clergy were worse than 
of the masses of the ungodly people, for while 
they professed chastity and celibacy, they kept 
their mistresses, and corrupted the wives and 
daughters of their communicants. Archbishop 
Beaton passed the night before his assassination 
with a harlot, who was seen leaving the castle 
just as the gates were opened in early morning 
to let in the workmen and the avengers of his 



The Scottish Reformation. 23 

cruelties. " The kingdom swarmed/' says M'Crie, 
" with ignorant, idle, luxurious monks, who, like 
locusts, devoured the fruits of the earth, and filled 
the air with pestilential infection : friars, white, 
black, and gray; canons regular, and of St. An- 
thony, Carmelites, Carthusians, Cordeliers, Domini- 
cans, Franciscan Conventuals and Observantines, 
Jacobines, Premonstratensians, monks of Tyrone 
and of Vallis Caulium, Hospitalers and Holy 
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem; nuns of St. 
Austin, St. Clare, St. Scholastica, and St. Cath- 
erine of Sienna, with canonesses of various classes." 

With utter ignorance of the Scriptures, it is not 
strange that they taught nothing but the traditions 
of the dark ages. The place of Jesus Christ as 
the Mediator between God and man was filled by 
the Virgin Mary and a throng of other saints. The 
wafer and the wine were converted by the priests 
into the blood and body and divinity of Christ, 
and this sacrifice of the 66 mass " was purchased 
by the people to atone for their sins. The doc- 
trine of purgatory was used to frighten the dying 
into making bequests to the Church and the 



24 John Knox. 

clergy, whose masses and prayers alone could 
shorten the penal fires by which their sins were 
to be purged after death. Tithes were rigorously 
exacted from the living, and the "corps-present" 
was piteously extorted from the family of the 
dying. Fasts and penances and pilgrimages were 
represented as meritorious, and neglect of cere- 
monies or utterances of dissent from the utter 
nonsense and blasphemy which was called the 
holy Catholic faith was punished with excommuni- 
cation, or with imprisonment, scourgings, and 
burnings. O merciful heaven, did angels ever 
weep over human depravity more deep and dread- 
ful than this fallen Christian Church! A vile 
priest mumbling the ritual in a dead language 
which neither he nor the people understood, and, 
when speaking to them in their native tongue, 
saying nothing but libels on the Christian religion 
or anathemas upon the lovers of truth, was a 
spectacle that hell itself could not transcend. 



The Scottish Reformation. 25 



Cljkptef II. 

KNOX LECTURES AT ST. ANDREWS— IS PERSECUTED — GOES 
SOUTH — DECLARES HIMSELF A PROTESTANT — DEATH OF 
JAMES V — MARTYRDOM OF WISHART — ASSASSINATION OF 
BEATON — KNOX RETURNS TO ST. ANDREWS — CALLED TO 
PREACH — MARTYRDOM OF JOHN ROUGH. 

T T was in 1542 that Knox openly declared him- 
self a Protestant. His lectures at the univer- 
sity from time to time had secured his sympathy 
with the new ideas which were every-where dis- 
cussed/ He renounced the dialectic method of 
philosophizing, and taught his pupils to form their 
judgment on the phenomena of nature and the 
facts of history. The actual state of things in 
the Church as well as the State engaged his at- 
tention, and he began to criticise and denounce 
the evil practices and immoralities of the clergy. 
His lectures now became more popular than ever, 
and men of every rank gave heed to his obser- 
vations. The attention of Cardinal Beaton, who 



26 John Knox. 

had complete sway over the town and University, 
was drawn to this change in his sentiment, and 
he was denounced as a Lutheran and a heretic. 
He was obliged to leave St. Andrews, and so 
took a journey to the south of Scotland. Here 
he openly professed Protestantism. Sentence was 
passed upon him for heresy, and he was degraded 
from the priesthood. Cardinal Beaton, fearing his 
influence against the Church, instigated certain 
villains to waylay and assassinate him. So de- 
moralized was society at this time, that it was a 
common thing for a man who made himself ob- 
noxious to any body or any party to be put out 
of the way by a violent death. Seeing his dan- 
ger, he sought and found the protection of the 
Laird of Langniddrie. He was soon employed 
as a tutor in the family of Hugh Douglas, and 
had also under his care the son of John Cock- 
burn, of Orminster. Both of these gentlemen 
had embraced the reformed doctrines, and it was 
their desire that their children should be taught 
not only in common learning but in the evangel- 
ical religion. He had the use of a chapel whose 



The Scottish Reformation. 27 

ruins are now called John Knox's Kirk, where, 
without assuming to be a priest he admitted the 
public to hear him catechise his pupils and ex- 
pound the Holy Scriptures. 

On the 14th of December, 1542, an event took 
place which was to open "a new and effectual 
door" for the Reformation; it was the death of 
the king, James V. The infamous Cardinal Bea- 
ton sought to get the regency during the mi- 
nority of Mary, the infant daughter and only 
legitimate child of the king, by producing a 
forged will. But the nobles of the realm were too 
sharp for him, and on the 10th of January, ten 
days after the burial of the king, they declared 
Earl of Arran, a Protestant prince, Lord Protector 
of the kingdom. Shortly afterwards the Scottish 
Parliament passed an act authorizing the circula- 
tion and reading of the Holy Scriptures translated 
into English. "This" said King "was no small 
victory of Jesus Christ fighting against the ene- 
mies of his verity and not small comfort to such 
as before were h olden in such bondage that they 
durst not have read the Lord's Prayer, the Ten 



28 John Knox. 

Commandments, nor the Articles of the Faith in 
the English tongue, but they should have been 
accused of heresy. Then might have been seen 
the Bible lying upon almost every gentleman's 
table; the New Testament was borne about in 
many men's hands." It is not pleasant to relate 
concerning Arran that not eight months after he 
assumed the regency, he relapsed into the Roman 
faith, and from Cardinal Beaton, his cousin, 
whom he had in January imprisoned for his 
forgery and treachery, received absolution on his 
public recantation of the reformed religion. 

Beaton was now again in the ascendency, and 
contrary to the advice of the regent, who coun- 
seled moderation, he arrested George Wishart, a 
reformed preacher, and without trial brought him 
to the stake. Wishart had been condemned and 
banished in 1540 for teaching and expounding the 
Greek Testament at Montrose; but having taken 
courage from the improved political condition of 
the country to return to Scotland and to preach 
the Gospel from place to place, he excited the 
malice of Beaton, and paid the forfeit with his 



The Scottish Reformation. 29 

life. The night that he was executed Knox was 
with him, and desired to share his fortune, but 
Wishart, having a presentiment of his doom, begged 
him to leave him. "Return," said he, "to your 
bairns," meaning his pupils, "and God bless you; 
one is sufficient for a sacrifice." To this good 
man Knox was much indebted for his knowledge 
of the Gospel as preached by the Reformers, and 
he saw in his many virtues the best proof of the 
truth of that Gospel. Another man whom Knox 
admired as a preacher was Thomas Williams, one 
of the chaplains appointed by the regent while 
he favored the Reformation. 

Arran had warned Cardinal Beaton that he 
would suffer for his savage deed in exterminating 
a faith which was fast gaining the popular favor. 
Scarcely two months after the death of Wishart, 
on the morning of the 29th of May, 1546, just 
after he had dismissed his mistress from his room, 
at the castle of St. Andrews, a rap was heard at 
his door. He refused to open, suspecting some 
mischief. The intruders threatened to break 
down the door, when he permitted his varlet to 



30 John Knox. 

draw the bolt, and they rushed in, headed by 
Norman Leslie, heir of the Earl of Rothes, who 
seized the cardinal as he was about dressing and 
stabbed him. He offered no defense, but cried, 
"I am a priest! Will you kill a priest!" Thus 
perished a man whose numerous cruelties and 
crimes made him the enemy of his race. 

Beaton was succeeded in his bishopric by 
John Hamilton, an illegitimate brother of the re- 
gent, who made Knox the object of his malice, 
and obliged him to flee from place to place 
to escape arrest. He turned his thoughts to- 
ward Germany, the home of the Reformation, 
where his life would be in safety; but the Lairds 
of Longeiddrie and Orminster persuaded him to 
remain in Scotland and to take refuge in the 
castle of St. Andrews, which was held by the 
party who had conspired against Cardinal Beaton. 
Taking his pupils with him he found his way into 
the castle in the Spring of 1547. This gave rise 
to the scandal that he had complicity with the 
assassination of the cardinal, but though this is 
not true, it is certain that he justified it on the 



The Scottish Reformation. 31 

principle that tyrants, who could not be reached 
by the ordinary form of justice, deserved death at 
the hands of any one who could administer it. 
Buchanan defended this principle and its applica- 
tion in this instance. Dr. M'Crie remarks on 
this: "It is a principle, I confess, of dangerous 
application, extremely liable to be abused by 
factious, fanatical, and desperate men as a pre- 
text for perpetrating the most nefarious deeds." 

We have in our country an awful instance 
of this in the assassination of the noble and mag- 
nanimous Lincoln by a fanatical sympathizer with 
the late rebellion — a deed which filled the world 
with horror, and was repudiated at once by all 
worthy men who justified the war for slavery. 

In the castle of St. Andrews were sheltered a 
number of reformers, among whom were Sir David 
Lindsay, Henry Balnaves, of Halhill, and John 
Rough, who was chaplain to the garrison. These 
persons were so much pleased and edified by the 
rare eloquence with which Knox lectured in the 
chapel and conducted his catechetical exercises in 
the parish church of the neighborhood, that they 



32 John Knox. 

requested him to become colleague to Rough 
and to preach publicly. But he objected that he 
had not received a call to preach. Accordingly 
they took it into their heads to surprise him with 
a call. One day Rough preached a sermon on 
the election of ministers, and maintained the doc- 
trine that a congregation of Christian people, 
however small, had a right to designate for the 
ministry any man in whom they discovered grace 
and gifts suited to the sacred office, and that it 
was morally perilous for one so adjudged to resist 
the ' 1 call." The preacher then abruptly turned 
to Knox and said, "Brother, you shall not be 
offended though I speak unto you that which I 
have in charge, even from all those who are pres- 
ent, even this : In the name of God, and of his 
Son Jesus Christ, and in the name of all that 
presently call you by my mouth, I charge you 
that you refuse not this holy vocation, but as you 
tender the glory of God, the increase of Christ's 
kingdom, the edification of your brethren, and 
the comfort of me, whom you well enough under- 
stand to be oppressed by the multitude of labors, 



The Scottish Reformation. 33 

that you take the office and charge of preaching, 
even as you hope to avoid God's heavy displeas- 
ure, and desire that he should multiply his graces 
unto you." Then, turning to the people, he 
asked, "Was not this your charge unto me, and 
do you not approve of this vocation?" They an- 
swered, "It was, and we approve it^j Surprised 
and abashed, Knox rose to speak, but burst into 
tears; and, covering his face with his hands, he 
hurried out of the church, and shut himself up in 
his room. His countenance for several days re* 
vealed to his brethren the struggles of his soul, as 
he had sought by prayers and tears the counsel 
of Almighty God. He had already been ordained 
in the Popish Church; but he made no such ac- 
count of this as of the simple Evangelical call of 
the Church and the charge of the faithful minis- 
ter of Christ. He dared not to deny the voice of 
God in this transaction, and he only asked grace 
to enable him to fulfill the solemn and at that 
time dangerous duties of the Christian ministry. 
It was not long before an occasion offered for the 
exercise of his special gifts as an expounder and 



34 John Knox. 

preacher of God's Word. At a public disputation 
with John Annan, Dean in the University, on the 
tenets of the Reformers, his opponent, defeated in 
argument, appealed to the authority of the Church, 
which had distinctly condemned those doctrines. 
To this Knox replied by denying that the Papal 
Church was the true Church of Christ. "As for 
your Roman Church, as it is now corrupted, 
wherein stands the hope of your victory, I no 
more doubt that it is the synagogue of Satan, and 
the head thereof, called the Pope, to be the Man 
of Sin of whom the apostle speaks, than I doubt 
that Jesus Christ suffered by the procurement of 
the visible Church of Jerusalem. Yea, I offer 
myself by word or writing to prove the Roman 
Church this day further degenerate from the purity 
which was in the days of the apostles than was 
the Church of the Jews from the ordinances given 
by Moses when they consented to the innocent 
death of Christ." 

The people hearing this, demanded that he 
should make good his words by ascending the 
pulpit at his earliest convenience, and presenting 



The Scottish Reformation. 35 

his arguments in a sermon. He accepted the 
challenge, and appointed the next Sunday for that 
service in the parish church. On that day the 
house was filled with the members of the Uni- 
versity, the canons and friars of various orders, 
and the people of the parish. It was his first 
formal sermon, and he was well prepared for it. 
The text was Daniel vii, 24, 25: "And the ten 
horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall 
arise : and another shall rise after them ; and he. 
shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue 
three kings. And he shall speak great words 
against the Most High, . . . and think to 
change times and laws: and they shall be given 
into his hand until a time and times and the divid- 
ing of time." He explained the vision of the four 
beasts as signifying the Babylonian, Persian, 
Greek, and Roman empires, out of the last of 
which was to come the despotic power, which had 
its perfect fulfillment only in the Roman hierarchy. 
He quoted from the canon law the lofty and 
blasphemous titles of the Popes, described the 

vile and tyrannous character of their lives as 
3 



36 John Knox. 

recorded in history, showed how their doctrines 
contravene Scripture, especially ascribing salvation 
to works rather than to faith in Christ, 'and en- 
joining fasts and penances and holidays and ab- 
stinence from meats and from marriage. He ap- 
pealed to the learned audience that he had truly 
quoted from the authorities referred to, and of- 
fered to give ample satisfaction to any who doubted 
if they would call upon him for proof. It was 
not the eloquence of the young preacher, which 
afterward dreAv such crowds to hear that trumpet 
voice, so much as the bold antagonism to Rome, 
which shook and thrilled the assembly. Others 
had refuted particular dogmas, and denounced 
particular practices of the Roman Church; but 
Knox assailed the foundation of the system. 
"Others," said his hearers, "hewed the branches 
of Papistry; but he striketh at the root to destroy 
the whole." "The Pope antichrist! The whole 
system unscnptural !" "If the doctors and magis- 
trates do not defend the Pope, we care norfor 
~rrim nor his laws." "George Wishart spoke never 
so plainly, and yet he was burnt; even so he will 



The Scottish Reformation. 37 

be in the end.' 5 / "We counsel you," said the 
Laird of Nyddrie, who heard this last exclamation, 
"to provide better defenses than fire and sword, 
for men now have other eyes than they had 
then." And so they talked and wondered and 
trembled. 

In the absence of the bishop elect of St. An- 
drews, John Winram, the sub-prior, was vicar 
general, and he was present at the delivery of 
the sermon. Upon receiving an admonition from 
his superior not to let such heretical sentiments 
pass without opposition, he reluctantly called on 
the most learned men, and summoned Knox and 
Rough to answer to nine articles drawn from their 
sermons, "the strangeness of which had moved 
him to call them to hear their answers." 

Knox received the summons with pleasure, as 
it gave him a further opportunity to expound his 
doctrines. lie appealed to Winram to judge 
whether he uttered any thing contrary to the 
Scriptures, and so declare his sentiments to the 
people. But Winram replied that he was not 
there to approve or condemn, but "he would 



38 John KNOX. t 

reason with him a little." One of Knox's propo- 
sitions was that the Church should follow the 
Scriptures in the form of administering the sacra- 
ments, and not invent ceremonies contrary or 
diverse from the Scriptural rule. In a little while 
the sub-prior called on a gray friar named Ar- 
brigkill to assist him in the argument he was pur- 
suing against that proposition. With great assur- 
ance the friar entered the lists, and affirmed the 
divine institution of the ceremonies of the Church. 
When proof from the Gospel was demanded, he 
failed to produce it from the four Gospels or the 
Acts or the Epistles. Finally he asserted that the 
apostles had not received the Holy Ghost when 
they wrote the Epistles, but they afterward re- 
ceived him, and ordained the ceremonies. 
"Father, what say ye?" cried the sub-prior, 
"God forbid that ye say that, for then farewell 
to the ground of our faith." Abashed by this 
interruption, he fled to the authority of the Church. 
When asked for the Scriptural authority for purga- 
tory, "he had," says Knox, "no better authority 
than that of Virgil in the Sixth ./Eneid, and the 



The Scottish Reformation. 39 

pains of it, according to him, were — a bad 
wife !" 

The result was that an order was issued, that 
the learned men of the Abbey and of the Uni- 
versity should occupy the pulpit of the parish 
church by turns on Sundays, so that the re- 
formed preachers had no opportunity to address 
the larger audiences. However, they forbade the 
Sabbath preachers to introduce controverted sub- 
jects, and the reformers, glad that the new faith 
was not to be denounced, contented themselves 
with preaching on the week-days. His evangeli- 
cal labors were successful in the conversion of a 
number of souls, and large numbers of the people 
of the town so far renounced Papacy as to come 
to the sacrament administered here for the first 
time publicly according to the forms of the Re- 
formed Scottish Church. His comfort was clouded 
at times by the licentious conduct of some of the 
soldiers in the castle Trom whom he expected 
better* things. 

Soon after these events his colleague Rough 
withdrew from the castle and went to England. 



40 John Knox. 

Henry VIII was at this time the reigning mon- 
arch, and the reformed preachers were allowed 
considerable liberty. Much as has been said and 
written against this king, the glory of publishing 
the Holy Scriptures in the English tongue, and 
of the renunciation of the civil authority of the 
Pope, can never be taken from him. To him 
more than to any other ruler the liberty now en- 
joyed by the English nation may be traced. The 
charm of Popery was broken, and the bird has 
escaped from the serpent. In England John 
Rough continued to exercise his ministry unmo- 
lested while Henry VIII lived and until the death 
of his son Edward VI. But soon after Mary 
took the throne he was compelled to flee to Nor- 
den, in Friesland, where he and his wife supported 
themselves by knitting caps and stockings. Hav- 
ing occasion to go to London for a supply of yarn 
he found a company of Protestants who held 
meetings for worship at Bow Street Chapel, 
and occasionally at Blackfriars, Bolton Bridge, 
Islington, and on board of vessels. He was soon 
elected minister, and on the 18th of November, 



The Scottish Reformation. 41 



of the same year, 1559, he was distressed by the 
arrest and martyrdom at the stake, in Smithfield, 
of three out of his own little band; a month 
later his own time was to come. The spies of 
the queen found him secretly worshiping with his 
brethren at Islington, and arrested him and a 
deacon, and took them before the inquisitorial 
tribunal of Bishop Bonner. 

He was treated savagely by the bishop, who 
seized him by the beard and plucked a handful of 
it by the roots. He was condemned to be burnt 
at the stake, and the sentence was executed at 
five and a half o'clock of the morning of Decem- 
ber 2 1 st. Two days before he suffered he ad- 
dressed the following apostolic farewell to his 
brethren : 

"My dear sirs, — Now departing this life, to my 
great advantage, I exchange mortality for immor- 
tality, corruption to put on incorruption; to make 
my body like the corn cast into the ground, which, 
except it die first, can bring forth no good fruit. 
Wherefore death is to my great advantage, for 
thereby the body ceaseth from sin, but after shall 



42 John Knox. 

be changed and made brighter than the sun at 
noon. What a journey by God's power I have 
made these eight days, it is above flesh and blood 
to bear; but as St. Paul says, 'I may do all 
things in Him which worketh in me, Jesus 
Christ/ My course, brethren, have I run; I have 
fought a good fight, the crown of righteous- 
ness is laid up for me. My day to receive 
it is not long to. Pray, brethren, for the enemy 
doth yet assault; stand constant unto the end, 
then shall ye possess your souls. Walk worthy 
in that vocation wherein ye are called. Com- 
fort the brethren. Salute one another in my 
name. Be not ashamed of the Gospel by me 
preached, nor yet of my suffering; for with my 
blood I affirm the same. I go before, I suffer 
first the baiting of the butcher's dogs; yet my 
strength I doubt not is supplied by the strength 
of Jesus Christ; and your wisdom and learning 
will accept this small talent I have distributed 
with you, I trust, as a faithful steward. 
The spirit of God guide you in and out, rising 
and sitting; cover you with the shadow of his 



The Scottish Reformation. 43 

wings, defend you against the tyranny of the 
wicked, and bring you happily to the port of 
eternal felicity, where all tears shall be wiped 
from your eyes, and you shall abide with the 
Lamb. . . . God knows you are all tender 
with me; my heart bursteth for the love of you.' 
You are not without your Pastor of your souls, 
who so loveth you that if men had to be sought 
out — as, God be praised, there is no want of men — 
he would cause the stones to minister unto you. 
Cast your care on that Rock, the wind of temp- 
tation shall not prevail. Fast and pray, for the 
days are evil." 

His prophecy came true, for the smoke of his 
burning had scarcely blown away before Bentham, 
a refugee from Switzerland, appeared in London, 
and took the vacant pastorate. 



44 



John Knox. 



dlfaptef HI. 

SIEGE OF ST. ANDREWS — KNOX TAKEN PRISONER, AND 
MADE A GALLEY SLAVE — FREED, AND GOES TO ENG- 
LAND — HIS MARRIAGE — CHAPLAIN TO KING EDWARD — 
GOES TO GENEVA. 

^\UR story left Knox in the castle of St. An- 
drews. It was held by the conspirators 
under Leslie, who was supplied with arms and 
ammunition by Henry VIII. The regent lay 
siege to it, and was re-enforced by a fleet from 
France under Leo Strozzi, by whose aid the brave 
garrison was forced to surrender, July 31, 1547. 
The castle was leveled to the ground, in accord- 
ance with a canon law, which required the demo- 
lition of any house in which the blood of a cardinal 
of the Church had been shed. The soldiers and 
inhabitants, who surrendered on condition that their 
lives should be spared, and they should be carried 
to any other country, were transported to France. 



The Scottish Reformation. 45 

Arrived at Rouen, at the instigation of the Pope, 
the terms of the capitulation were violated, and all 
on board were made prisoners of war. Numbers 
were incarcerated at Rouen, some were sent to 
Cherburg, some to Brest, others to Mont St. 
Michel, and a small number, including Knox, 
were confined to the galleys, loaded with chains, 
and treated with great severity. Not long after- 
ward, the galleys passed up the Loire, and lay at 
Nantes during the Winter. While here, every sort 
of effort was made to proselyte them to the Roman 
Church, but without success. Not the slightest re- 
spect to the symbols of Popery could be extorted 
from these brave Scotchmen. They covered their 
heads when the service of mass began. One 
day a painted image of the Virgin was brought 
to Knox to kiss. He spurned the idol with scorn; 
but the officer thrust it into his face, when he 
seized it, and cast it into the river, saying in 
Scotch, ' 'Let our Ladie now save hirself; sche is 
lychte anoughe, lat her leirne to swime." 

During the following Summer the galleys were 
cruising off the coast of Scotland. One day they 



46 John Knox. 

were floating in sight of the castle of St. An- 
drews, fellow-prisoner, Sir James Balfour, 
asked Knox if lie knew those spires and turrets. 
"I know them well," lie answered with emotion, 
" for I see the steeple of that place where God 
first opened my mouth to his glory; and I am 
fully persuaded, how weak soever I now appear, 
that I shall not depart this life until my tongue 
shall glorify him in the same place." In this 
manner, though suffering himself from fever and 
weariness of spirit, he comforted the minds of 
those who shared his hardship. When asked if 
he ever hoped to have his liberty, his answer in- 
variably was, "God will yet deliver us." Yet it 
it was not without a struggle that he kept his 
mind above despondency. "I know," he says in 
his "Treatise on Prayer," referring to these times, 
" I know how hard the battle is between the flesh 
and the spirit under the heavy cross of affliction, 
when no worldly defense but present death doth 
appear. I know the grudging and murmuring 
complaints of the flesh, I know the anger, wrath, 
and indignation it conceiveth against God, calling 



The Scottish Reformation. 47 

all his promises in doubt, and being ready every 
hour utterly to fall from God, against which rests 
only faith, provoking us to call earnestly, and 
pray for assistance of God's Spirit, wherein, if we 
continue, our most desperate calamities shall He 
turn to gladness and a prosperous end." 

He relieved the weary hours of his captivity 
by writing out his confession of faith, embracing 
his teachings at St. Andrews, and the disputation 
at St. Leonard's Yards with the advocates of 
Papistry. He also wrote a preface and notes to 
the treatise on Justification written by Henry Bal- 
naves in prison at Rouen, and sent to him in the 
galley of Notre Dame. " The counsel of Satan," 
he writes in this preface, "was to stop the whole- 
some wind of Christ's evangel to blow upon the 
parts where we converse and dwell, and, secondly, 
to oppress ourselves by corporeal affliction, that no 
place should we find to godly study. But in 
despite of him shall yet that same news (O Lord, 
I speak thus, confiding in thy holy promise !) 
be openly proclaimed in that same country." 

From the brethren and friends confined in 



48 John Knox. 

prison at Mont St. Michel letters were sent U> 
Knox, asking his opinion as to the lawfulness 
and expediency of breaking their prison. He re- 
plied it might be done without bloodshed; "but 
to shed any man's blood for their freedom he 
would not consent." Receiving this advice, they 
watched their opportunity, and "without harm 
done to the person of any, and without touching 
any thing that appertained to the king, the cap- 
tain, or the house," they made good their escape, 
and reached their native land. By what means 
Knox was set at liberty, it is strange that no re- 
liable account has been preserved to us. But 
whether by the captain of the galley, or by the 
orders of the King of France, or by ransom paid 
in money by his friends, after nineteen months of 
degrading and cruel captivity, early in 1549, he 
was set free, and made his way to England. 

Two years before, Henry VIII had died, and 
left the kingdom to the government of the Duke of 
Somerset as regent during the minority of his son 
Edward VI. Both the young king and the protector 
were Protestants. The times were more favorable 



The Scottish Reformation. 49 

to the spread of evangelical truth than ever before. 
Archbishop Cranmer had, with consent of the 
king and Parliament, invited Peter Martyr, Mar- 
tin Bucer, and other learned men of the Lutheran 
Church to occupy positions as teachers and pro- 
fessors in the universities of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge, with special reference to training preach- 
ers of the Gospel to itinerate through the land for 
the conversion and benefit of the masses of the 
people. The fame of Knox as chaplain at St. 
Andrews had reached London, and he was invited 
by Archbishop Cranmer and the privy council to 
engage in the same evangelical work. Nothing 
could be more acceptable to his ardent mind, and 
accordingly he was sent down to Berwick to 
preach to the people and soldiers in the garrison. 
He labored there two years, and had the happi- 
ness to see a reformation among the soldiers, and 
a considerable number of the inhabitants con- 
verted from Popery. The bishop of that diocese 
was Tonstal, who was more than half a Catholic 
at heart, a believer in transubstantiation and the 
mass. He found out that Knox in one of his ex- 



go John Knox. 

cursions to Newcastle had pronounced "the sacri- 
fice of the mass idolatrous/ 7 and he preferred 
charges against him, and cited him to answer be- 
fore a convention of clergy and learned men at 
Newcastle. No better opportunity could be de- 
sired by Knox to defend the truth of the Gospel, 
and refute the Papal heresy. Commencing his 
defense by cautioning the assembly against the 
prejudices of education and tradition, he pro- 
ceeded to prove that the sacrifice of mass was 
an idol invented by superstition, a subversion of 
the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and contrary 
to the Scriptural doctrine of the atonement by the 
sacrifice of Christ. With syllogisms, Bible texts, 
irony, and ridicule he assailed the abominable er- 
ror, and carried conviction to the minds of the 
great assembly, made up of the learned and un- 
learned. The bishop was defeated, and Knox 
was allowed to go on with his mission at Berwick. 
His fame as an orator and preacher was now 
established. The following year he was promoted 
to a similar work at Newcastle, and at the close 
of the year he was elected one of the six chaplains 



The Scottish Reformation. 51 

of the king, with a salary of forty pounds per 
annum. He was consulted by the authorities on 
the revision of the Book of Common Prayer, and 
helped by his influence to exclude from the sacra- 
mental service the notion of the corporeal presence 
of Christ in the sacrament, and all expressions of 
adoration of the elements. He says concerning 
this correction: "Also God gave boldness and 
knowledge to the Court of Parliament to take 
away the round-clipped god, wherein standeth all 
the holiness of the Papists, and to command that 
common bread be used at the Lord's table, and 
also to take away the most part of superstitions 
(kneeling at the Lord's table excepted), which be- 
fore profaned Christ's true religion." This refer- 
ence to kneeling at the sacrament suggests the 
remark that the idea of adoring the elements is not 
involved in that ceremony. In the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, as well as the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church and other Churches in America, the 
word "altar" is used as a name for a space 
around the pulpit without the slightest notion of 

an altar of sacrifice, and kneeling at the altar was 

4 



52 John Knox. 

with no other intention than of taking a reverential 
position in the presence of God at the moment of 
taking the memorial of the Savior's death. Words 
and things change their significance in the lapse of 
time. The influence of Knox in amending the rit- 
ual of the Church was .bitterly commented upon by 
Dr. Weston in his controversy with Latimer in the 
reign of Mary, the Catholic. "A runagate Scot," 
he said, " did take away the adoration or wor- 
shiping of Christ in the sacrament, by whose pro- 
curement that heresie was put into the last com- 
munion book; so much prevailed that one man's 
authoritie at that time." The next year Knox 
was again consulted about the Articles of Religion. 
At that time there were forty-two; in 1562, they 
were reduced by Parliament from forty-two to 
thirty-nine, the present number. Among the 
omitted articles was that on eternal punishment. 
Mr. Wesley, in providing for the organization of 
the American Methodist Episcopal Church, re- 
duced them to twenty-five, leaving out all that 
were peculiar to Calvinism. 

Henry VIII had initiated the Reformation in 



The Scottish Reformation. 53 

England by renouncing all allegiance to the Pope 
of Rome, by suppressing the monasteries, by an 
English version of the Bible, and the permission 
of its reading to all the people. Edward VI was 
but ten years of age when he began his reign 
under the guardianship of his uncle, Sir Edward 
Seymour, afterward Duke of Somerset. During the 
six years of his reign the Reformation made great 
progress. A Bible was placed in every church, 
images were removed, the sale of indulgences was 
made penal, private masses abolished, the liturgy 
revised, the whole service conducted in English 
instead of Latin, and the communion adminis- 
tered ' to the laity in both kinds, of bread and 
wine. The carrying of candles on Candlemas- 
day, ashes on Ash-Wednesday, and palms on 
Palm-Sunday ; creeping to the cross, and taking 
holy bread and water; and the laws enjoining the 
celibacy of the clergy, were all abolished. After 
the death of the pious young king all this was 
reversed by Mary, and Popery in its worst form 
again took possession of the Church of England. 
The zeal of Knox in evangelical work was 



54 John Knox. 

quickened by the belief that the favorable time 
would not be of long duration, and he would work 
while it was day. Besides the Sabbath services 
and miscellaneous pastoral duties, he preached on 
week-days, sometimes every day in the week. 
His usefulness was recognized by the council. 
They sent letters in his behalf to the governors 
and chief men of the places, through which he 
itinerated and secured the prompt payment of his 
salary; and out of consideration for him they is- 
sued a patent to his brother William to trade in a 
vessel of one hundred tons in any port of the 
kingdom. 

Somerset, who with all his faults had the Ref- 
ormation at heart, made himself obnoxious to 
many by his ambitious schemes, and through these 
machinations lost his position as protector, and 
finally lost his life. His successor, the unprinci- 
pled Duke of Northumberland, affected zeal for 
the Reformation to obtain favor of the king and 
the party in power; but his own elevation and 
that of his family was his grand object in life. 
His son was married to Lady Jane Grey, grand- 



The Scottish Reformation. 55 

niece of Henry VIII, and heir to the succession 
after Mary and Elizabeth, daughters of Henry 
VIII, who like Edward was a Protestant. On the 
approach of death to Edward, he persuaded him to 
alter the will of Henry VIII, and to make Lady 
Jane successor instead of his sisters; but the people 
did not accept the change, and both Northumber- 
land and his daughter-in-law lost their lives on the 
scaffold. Such was the man who took offense at 
Knox for lamenting the fall of Somerset as bring- 
ing the Reformation in peril, and for his plain and 
powerful preaching against such immoralities as he 
was addicted to. He wrote a letter to the council 
to persuade them to send Knox into some other 
country, pretending that, as he drew the Scotch- 
men around him, it would prove disadvantageous 
to the government. Knowing this attitude of 
Northumberland toward Knox, his Popish enemies 
in the Northern counties, irritated by his denun- 
ciation of those who were exulting in the fall of 
Somerset as opening the way to the re-establish- 
ment of Popery, especially if the accident of the 
king's death should occur, made out charges 



56 John Knox. 

against him, and transmitted them to the council 
at London. Accordingly he was cited to appear 
before the council to give answer to these accu- 
sations. 

During his residence at Berwick he had 
formed an engagement of marriage with Marjory 
Bowes, which, however, was postponed on account 
of some unexplained objection -of her father. 
To this lady he wrote, saying that his sudden 
summons to London prevented his taking personal 
leave of her. He was not dismayed by the pros- 
pect before him, for "the same hand/' he writes, 
"that forespeaketh trouble doth certify us of 
glory consequent. As for myself, albeit the ex- 
tremity should now apprehend me, it is not come 
unlooked for. But, alas! I fear that yet I be not 
ripe nor able to glorify Christ by my death; but 
what lacketh now, God shall perform in his own 
time. Be sure I will not forget you and your com- 
pany so long as mortal man may remember any 
earthly creature." 

Arriving at London, he appeared before the 
council, and by an able defense convinced them 



The Scottish Reformation. 57 

that the charges against him were instigated by 
malice and religious fanaticism*. He was not only 
acquitted promptly, but invited to preach at court. 
The young king was delighted with his eloquence, 
and thenceforth became his friend. He was in- 
vited by the council to devote the next year to 
preaching in London and the southern counties. 
. He returned to Newcastle, and remained until 
after Easter. His letters at that time show that 
he was suffering from the gravel, brought on by 
his confinement in the galleys, and by excessive 
exertions in preaching and pastoral work. He 
was afraid that there would be no relief to his 
disorder. "I am even of mind with faithful Job, 
yet most sore tormented, that my pain shall have 
no end in this life. But the power of God may, 
against the purpose of my heart, alter such things 
as appear not to be altered, as he did unto Job." 

Before he was ready to return to London, the 
council had nominated him to Archbishop Cran- 
mer for the vacant living of All-Hallows in that 
city. The king suggested it, but Northumberland 
had opposed it. When it was reported to Knox, 



58 John Knox. 

he begged to decline it, assigning as the reason 
that he was not free in his mind to accept a per- 
manent position in the English Church in its pres- 
ent state. His refusal for such reasons offended 
the council, and he was called before them to ex- 
plain his objections. The Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, and Goodrick, Bishop of Ely, and Lord 
Chancellor, the Lords Treasurer and Chamberlain, 
the Secretaries, and the Earls of Bedford, North- 
ampton, and Shrewsbury were present. His reply 
was that he felt that he could be more useful in 
some other situation ; that there were things in 
the Church order that needed amendment; par- 
ticularly he objected to the lack of authority in 
the ministry to reject unworthy persons from the 
sacrament. He objected to the custom of kneel- 
ing at the sacrament as an invention of man, not 
found in the institution by Christ. The lords 
controverted his objection sharply, but dismissed 
him with' kindly advising him to reconsider his 
position and endeavor to conform. Not long 
after this he was, at the instance of the king, 
offered a bishopric; but he declined this also for 



The Scottish Reformation. 59 

the reasons given in the other case, and for the 
additional reason that he considered the epis- 
copacy as without divine authority, and that in 
the English Church, furthermore, it was exercised 
contrary to the canons of the Church. The ideal 
of a Christian Church in the mind of Knox was 
realized in the Church of Calvin at Geneva. He 
did not believe in the order of bishops, and he 
did not like the elaborate ceremonies of the En- 
glish Church. How, then, could he consent to 
be consecrated a bishop, or even to hold the 
office of rector in that Church ? It was for him 
to be the founder of the Scottish Church, based 
simply upon the principles and customs of the 
apostolic Church. 

The preaching of the royal chaplains before the 
court was marked with great plainness and direct- 
ness of speech. We have specimens of their 
style in the sermons of Latimer. The vices of 
the times were not spared, and the members of 
the government and the distinguished courtiers 
came in for their just share of reproof. In the 
last sermon which Knox preached before the 



60 John Knox. 

king, he observed that it was the fortune of 
the best kings sometimes to be surrounded by 
evil and ungodly counselors. ''What wonder, 
then, if a young and innocent king be deceived 
by crafty, ambitious, wicked, and ungodly coun- 
selors ? I am afraid that Ahithophel be coun- 
selor, that Judas bear the purse, and that we be 
comptroller and treasurer. " Saying this, he gave 
a piercing and significant glance toward the 
premier and the lord high treasurer. The pale 
countenance of the king showed that he had not 
long to be the rallying point of human ambitions. 
He sunk rapidly under the power of consumption, 
and the 6th of July, 1553, he. closed his eyes upon 
earth, and resigned the prospect of a kingdom 
here for the crown of glory in paradise. 

Knox was in London at this time, and saw 
the dark cloud which settled down on the minds 
of the people, who loved their king and dreaded 
the consequences of his demise, He had pre- 
pared his mind for this sad event. Writing to the 
mother of his betrothed, he said, "What moved 
me to refuse (and that with the displeasure of all 



The Scottish Reformation. 



61 



men, even of those that best loved me,) these 
high promotions that were offered by him whom 
God hath taken from us for our offenses, was assur- 
edly the foresight of trouble to come. How oft 
have I said to you that the time would not be 
long that England would give me bread. " 

On the 10th of July, 1553, Lady Jane Grey 
was proclaimed queen, and nine days after, Mary 
Tudor dispossessed her, and took the throne, and 
Lady Jane was thrown into prison. 

Lady Jane was the daughter of Henry Grey, 
Marquis of Dorset, afterward Duke of Norfolk, and 
Mary younger sister of Henry VIII. At this time 
she was but eighteen years of age, and was the 
wife of Guilford Dudley, fourth son of the Duke 
of Northumberland, of whose unprincipled ambi- 
bition she was the victim. He had as protector 
persuaded, Edward VI on his death-bed to make 
a will appointing Lady Jane as his successor. 
When the crown was offered to her she refused it; 
but her scruples were overcome by the persuasions 
of her husband, to whom she was deeply attached. 
She was crowned by the party in her interest; but 



62 Joh.n Knox. 

the nation did not acknowledge her right, and she 
retired gladly from the dangerous and doubtful 
position. She was arrested and sent to the Tower, 
together with her husband, and probably would 
have been soon released, had not her father, the 
Duke of Suffolk, joined the insurrection against 
Mary under Sir Thomas Wyatt. She and her 
husband were sentenced to be beheaded, which 
was executed on Tower Hill, February 12, 1554. 
Queen Mary, who pitied her cousin, had sus- 
pended the execution three days to give her op- 
portunity for her conversion to the Catholic faith, 
without which, in the bigoted mind of the queen, 
there was no chance for her salvation. But the 
priests, who were sent to convert her, found her 
fixed in her dissent from Popery, and more than 
a match for them in Scriptural argument and ec- 
clesiastical lore. She had had for her teacher in 
literature and religion the learned Aylmer, after- 
ward Bishop of London. In some Oriental, as 
well as the classical and modern languages she 
was proficient. Roger Ascham relates that on a 
visit to Brodgate Hall, he found Jane, then only 



The Scottish Reformation. 63 

fourteen years of age, reading in the original 
Greek Plato's Dialogue on the Immortality of the 
Soul. She was as amiable in her disposition as 
she was precocious in learning. She died with 
Christian resignation, and half the nation wept 
her sad fate and honored her memory. 

Mary Tudor had the best claim to the succes- 
sion. She was the daughter of Henry VIII by 
his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was 
thirty-seven years of age when she was pro- 
claimed queen. In her infancy she was be- 
trothed to the Dauphin of France, afterward to 
the Emperor Charles V, and after that to the 
Duke of Orleans, and finally she was married, in 
the second year of her reign, to Phillip II of 
Spain, who sought by this alliance to further the 
ambition of his life, to retore the ascendency of 
the Roman religion in Europe. Mary was a sin- 
cere and devoted Catholic, and thought she was 
doing God service to suppress by every means in 
her power the rising Reformation. The kingdom 
was in due form reconciled to 'the Pope, through 
the offices of Cardinal Pole of Plantagenet de- 



64 John Knox. 

scent, and the laws against heretics were revived, 
under which no less than two hundred and sev- 
enty-seven persons of every age and sex and rank 
in life were committed to die flames, and pro- 
cured for the wretched queen the name of Bloody 
Maty. By her husband's influence, she was in- 
veigled into a war with France, in which the En- 
glish nation was humiliated by the loss of Calais, 
which for two hundred years had been in their 
possession. Mary was doomed to barrenness and 
an early death by dropsy. In November, 1558, 
she left her scepter, after Ave years' reign, to Eliza- 
beth, who restored the Protestant religion to Eng- 
land. The cruelties of Mary were not so much 
the offspring of a malicious nature as of the big- 
otry and barbarity of the times. It was to save' 
the souls of heretics that she pronounced on them 
the doom of death, and the true principle of 
toleration was not to be born until a hundred 
years later, and in this new world of America. 

Knox was so deeply grieved by the acclama- 
tions of the ignorant masses at the inauguration 
of Mary that his impetuous temper broke out in 



The Scottish Reformation. 65 

rebukes and warnings of the approaching calami- 
ties. He withdrew from London, and went on a 
preaching tour northward for a month. He then 
returned to London, and engaged in his ordinary 
pastoral work. He showed his loyalty to the 
queen by including in the Confession and Prayer 
which he composed for the use of his congrega- 
tion a prayer for the queen and for the suppres- 
sion of the rebellion. During the early Autumn 
he itinerated in Buckinghamshire and Kent, every- 
where attracting large audiences, and exhorting 
the people to be steadfast in the faith, whatever 
might be for their trial in the future. In Aversham, 
particularly where Wycliffe had sown the earliest 
seeds of the Reformation, he found the greatest 
interest among the people. 

During this year he was married to Miss 
Bowes. Her father was opposed to the match, 
probably on account of his inclination to Popery, 
and his fears that Knox would find trouble as a 
preacher of heretical views. "My great labors," 
he wrote to her mother, "wherein I desire your 
daily prayers, will nQt suffer me to satisfy my mind 



66 John Knox. 

touching all the process between your husband 
and you touching my matter with his daughter. 
I praise God heartily both for your boldness and 
constancy. But I beseech you, mother, trouble 
not yourself too much therewith. It becomes me 
now to jeopard my life for the comfort and deliv- 
erance of my own flesh, as that I will do, by 
God's grace, both fear and friendship of all 
earthly creatures laid aside. I have written to 
your husband, the contents whereof I trust our 
brother Harry will declare unto you and my 
wife. If I escape sickness and imprisonment, 
[you may] be sure to see me soon." 

It was the wish of his wife and her mother that 
he might exercise his ministry as before in Ber- 
wick; but the government of Mary had stopped 
the payment of his salary for the year past, and 
nothing could be looked for from the family of 
his wife. So far from it. the uncle of his wife, Sir 
Robert Bowes, had pierced his heart with sorrow 
by his disdainful treatment and the contempt he 
manifested to the cause of the evangelical religion. 
■"It is supposed," he wrote to his mother-in-law, 



The Scottish Reformation. 67 

"that all the matter comes by you and me. I 
pray God that your conscience were quiet and at 
peace, and I regard not what country consume 
this my wicked carcass. And were it not that no 
man's unthankfulness shall move me (God sup- 
porting my infirmity) to cease to do profit unto 
Christ's congregation, those'days should be few that 
England would give me bread. And I fear that, 
when all is done, I shall be driven to that end; 
for I can not abide the disdainful hatred of those, 
of whom not only I thought I might have craved 
kindness, but also to whom God hath been by me 
more liberal than they be thankful." In another 
letter, written in November, he writes: "It will 
be after the 12th day before I can be at Berwick, 
and almost I am determined not to come at all. 
Ye know the cause." 

About this time the Parliament had by statute, 
under the inspiration of Mary, restored the Catho- 
lic religion, and prohibited Protestant worship in 
public, to take effect after the 20th of December. 
Up to that time, and indeed after it, Knox con- 
tinued to preach the Gospel in Newcastle and 
5 



68 John Knox. 

vicinity. But in January, 1554, his servant was 
seized carrying letters to his family, and they were 
opened by his enemies to get accusation against 
him. He knew there was nothing in them that 
could be ground of disloyalty; but for fear his 
wife and friends might be alarmed for his safety, 
he started to go to Berwick. But some of his 
wife's relatives, who accompanied him on his 
journey, saw the peril in which he was, and over- 
persuaded him with tears and entreaties to diverge 
to the coast, where he could find means of escape, 
if necessary, by sea. He wrote to his wife, say- 
ing that he was ready to be offered on the altar 
of his faith, but he would not throw his life away; 
and if he found his brethren had just cause of 
alarm, he would "obey the voices of his brethren, 
and give place to the fury and rage of Satan for 
a time. 7 ' Soon after he followed the example 
of bishops and many ministers and devoted friends 
of the Reformation, and escaped from the coun- 
try. He landed at Dieppe, a port of Normandy 
in France, on the 28th of January, 1554. 



The Scottish Reformation. 69 



Glfyptet IV. 

KNOX — LETTERS TO HIS FRIENDS IN DIEPPE — GOES TO 
SWITZERLAND — JOHN CALVIN — CURATE OF FRANK- 
FORT — DR. COX'S SCHISMS-RETURN TO SCOTLAND — 
SUCCESS IN PREACHING THE GOSPEL. 

GLAD to find himself in a country not ruled 
by Catholic Mary, yet sorry to leave his 
friends and followers in the reformed religion, and 
half doubting whether he should not have stayed 
and shared their perils, he writes to his beloved 
mother-in-law the following letter: 

"The desire I have to hear of your continu- 
ance with Christ Jesus in the day of this his bat- 
tle (which shortly shall end to the confusion of 
his proud enemies), neither by tongue nor by pen 
can I express, beloved mother. Assuredly it is 
such that it vanquisheth and overcome th all re- 
membrance and solicitude which the flesh useth 
to take for feeding and defense of herself. For, 



70 John Knox. 

in every realm and nation, God will stir up some 
one or other to minister those things that apper- 
tain to this wretched life; and, if men will cease 
to do their office, yet will he send his ravens; so 
that in every place, perchance, I may find some 
fathers to my body. But, alas! where I shall 
find children to be begotten unto God, by the 
word of life, that can I not presently consider; 
and therefore the spiritual life of such as some- 
times boldly professed Christ (God knoweth) is to 
my heart more dear than all the glory, riches, 
and honor in earth ; and the falling back of such 
men as I hear daily to go back to that idol again, 
is to me more dolorous than, I trust, the corpo- 
ral death shall be whenever it shall come at God's 
appointment. 

"Some will ask then, Why did I flee? Assur- 
edly, I can not tell. But of one thing I am sure, 
the fear of death was not the chief cause of my 
fleeing. I trust that one cause hath been to let 
me see with my corporal eyes, that all had not a 
true heart to Christ Jesus, that in the day of rest 
and peace bare a fair face. But my fleeing is no 



The Scottish Reformation. 71 

matter; by God's grace I may come to battle be- 
fore that all the conflict be ended. And haste the 
time, O Lord! at thy good pleasure, that once 
again my tongue may yet praise thy holy name 
before the congregation, if it were but in the hour 
of death." 

At another moment he writes : 

"I would not bow my knee before that abom- 
inable idol for all the torments that earthly tyrants 
can devise, God so assisting me, as his Holy Spirit 
presently moveth me to write unfeignedly. And 
albeit that I have, in the beginning of this battle, 
appeared to play the faint-hearted and feeble sol- 
dier (the cause I remit to God), yet my prayer is 
that I may be restored to the battle again. And 
blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, I am not left so bare of comfort, but my 
hope is to obtain such mercy that, if a short end 
be not made to all my miseries by final death, 
which to me were no small advantage, that yet, 
by Him who never despiseth the sobs of the sore 
afflicted, I shall be so encouraged to fight that 
England and Scotland shall both know that I am 



72 John Knox. 

ready to suffer more than either poverty or exile, 
for the profession of that doctrine and that heav- 
enly religion, whereof it hath pleased his merciful 
providence to make me, among others, a simple 
soldier and witness-bearer unto men. And there- 
fore, mother, let no fear enter into your heart, as 
that I, escaping the furious rage of these ravening 
wolves, that for our unthankfulness are lately 
loosed from their bands, do repent any thing of 
my former fervency. No, mother, for a few ser- 
mons by me to be made within England, my heart 
at this hour could be content to suffer more than 
nature were able to sustain; as by the grace of 
the most mighty and most merciful God, who only 
is God of comfort and consolation through Christ 
Jesus, one day shall be known." 

Reflecting on his career for the last seven event- 
ful years, he felt devoutly thankful for the grace 
which had enabled him to bear his heart testi- 
mony for Christ and for the favor shown him by 
the people; but he was humbled by the conscious- 
ness that he had not always realized his own ideals 
of duty, though he had been accepted by others; 



The Scottish Reformation. 73 

he had been wanting in fervor and in directness 
and pointedness in his sermons ; he had clung too 
long to favorite stations, when he should have 
sought out the neglected and the forlorn; he had 

# 

spent too much time in recreation and worldly busi- 
ness, and had set too high an estimate upon the ap- 
plause of his fellow-men. "So privily and craft- 
ily/' he says, " did those temptations enter into 
my breast, that I could not perceive myself to be 
wounded till vain glory had almost got the upper 
hand. O Lord, be merciful to my great offense !" 

Before leaving England, at the request of Mrs. 
Bowes, he had been writing an exposition of the 
Sixth Psalm, but had not finished it. He now re- 
sumes that book for the benefit of those who, like 
David, were exposed to persecution and death for 
their devotion to duty. How many that hour in 
in poor distressed England could feel that this 
psalm expressed their feelings ! 

1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither 
chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 

2. Have mercy upon me, O Lord ; for I am weak : O 
Lord, heal me ; for my bones are vexed. 



74 



John Knox. 



3. My soul is also sore vexed : but thou, O Lord, how 
long ? 

4. Return, O Lord, deliver my soul : oh save me for 
thy mercies' sake. 

5. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in 
• the grave who shall give thee thanks? 

6. I am weary with my groaning ; all the night make 
I my bed to swim ; I water my couch with my tears. 

7. Mine eye is consumed because of grief ; it waxeth 
old because of all mine enemies. 

8. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity ; for the 
Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. 

9. The Lord hath heard my supplication ; the Lord 
will receive my prayer. 

10. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed : 
let them return and be ashamed suddenly. 

His discourse on this psalm may be found in 
his literary remains, but it needs not be quoted 
here. It is the eloquence of one who himself had 
waded through the deep waters of affliction. 
During his short stay at Dieppe he composed a 
pastoral letter to his scattered flock in England 
and Scotland, in which he exhorts them for no 
earthly consideration of fear or reward to forsake 
the reformed religion and relapse into Popery; 
for by so doing they would not only lose the favor 



The Scottish Reformation. 75 



of heaven, but plunge the nation back into the 
abyss of superstition, and entail a posterity, per- 
haps ages of spiritual ignorance and idolatry. 
The opening of Spring found him making his 
way through France to that land of religious 
liberty, Switzerland on which, as the sun first 
illumes her mountain tops, the light of the new 
Gospel was now beginning to shine undisturbed 
by princely or priestly despotism. The warmest 
welcome awaited him here from the Protestant 
ministers and Churches, whose hearts were full of 
sympathy for the persecuted brethren of Eng- 
land. Every day the flying pilgrims were guided 
by the sheen of the snow-capped mountains, as 
by the cloud by day, that covered the wander- 
ings and the rest of Israel. Knox was well- 
known by reputation to the learned men and 
ministers of the Gospel, and he took pleasure in 
company with them in the interest of Christ's 
cause, and in visiting the Churches in divers 
places. 

The anxiety he felt to hear from his friends at 
home draws him back again to Dieppe in a 



76 John Knox. 

couple of months, and there he found letters, 
informing him of the dreadful swelling of the 
tide and torrent of persecution. But he was 
made happy by the assurance that his wife and 
'her mother had not yielded to the storm. Mr. 
Bowes had looked for them to succumb to the 
difficulties and dangers of their position: but he 
knew nothing of the power of*that " faith which 
overcometh the world/' And when he found 
his family ready to abandon their home and 
native country rather than to renounce their re- 
ligion, lie gave up his opposition, and left , them 
to the guidance of their own consciences. Find- 
ing, by his advices from Berwick, that it was no 
safe time for him to return to England even for 
a short visit to his family, he turned back again 
and came to Geneva, in Switzerland. 

There he met, for the first time, that wonder- 
ful man, whose fame was filling the civilized 
world, John Calvin, the second of the great 
reformers of the sixteenth century, of whom 
Knox was the third. Let us pause and look at 
his portrait. He was born in Noyon, in Picardy, 



The Scottish Reformation. 77 

July 10, 1509, the son of Gerard Cauvin, whose 
name Latinized was Calvinus, and in English, 
Calvin. His godly father dedicated him in 
childhood to the Church, and he was patronized 
and educated by the family of the Abbot of St. 
Eloi. Such was his precocity in learning and 
religion that he was but twelve years old when 
he received a benefice in the cathedral of Noyon, 
and before he was twenty years of age he was 
appointed to one cure after another, whose in- 
come supported him in his university studies 
at Paris. Here a townsman, Peter Robert 
Olivetan, made his acquaintance and gave him 
the first impression of the Reformation. He 
embraced the new doctrine with intuitive convic- 
tion of its truth and vast importance. He re- 
nounced at once the study of theology and took 
up the law. Melchior Volmar, a German teacher 
of the Greek language, instructed him more 
deeply with the principles of the Gospel, and he 
resigned his benefices as no longer suited to his 
new convictions and aims in life. 

In 1532 he appeared as an author in his 



78 John Knox. 

Latin commentary on the books of Seneca 
De dementia, in which his name first appears as 
Johannes Calvinus. This year the rector of the 
university, Michael Cop, delivered a discourse in 
favor of the new theology, which involved him 
and his pupils in odium and persecution. Cal- 
vin returned to the friendly abode of the Du 
Tillet, Canon of the Church at Angouleme, and 
commenced his great work i :i Institutio Christians 
Religionist Queen Marguerite of Navarre, sister 
of Francis I, invited him to Nerac, where he 
met with other learned men, refugees from France 
on account of their new opinions in religion. 

In 1534 he returned to Paris, but meeting again 
with persecutions he retreated to Basle. Here 
he published the "Institutio Cli7'istianot Religionist 
In this book, so long a standard in behalf of the 
Protestant Church, he agrees with Luther in 
making the Holy Scriptures the only rule of faith 
and practice — in denouncing the supremacy of the 
Pope, transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the mass, 
purgatory, prayers for the dead, invocation of the 
saints; also in admitting only two sacraments, bap- 



The Scottish Reformation. 79 

tism and the Lord's-supper, and insisting on justi- 
fication by faith alone in Christ's atonement, and 
not by works, which have no merits whatsoever. 
He differed from Luther in holding only the spir- 
itual presence of Christ in the sacrament, while 
Luther held to "consubstantiation," that is, -the 
substance of Christ's body mystically connected 
with the elements of bread and wine, and in the 
doctrine of predestination and absolute election 
and reprobation, which Luther made to spring 
from foresight of the free action of the human 
will, and not the arbitrary foresight of God, and 
in utterly denouncing images in the churches, cleri- 
cal vestments, auricular confession, the form of 
exorcism in baptism, and some other ceremonies 
which Luther tolerated. 

About this time the principles of the Reformation 
began to dawn in Italy, and Calvin went thither 
to preach the new faith. He was favored by the 
Duchess de Farrare, the accomplished daughter of 
Louis XII, who became a convert to his doctrines. 
After preaching publicly in the town of Piedmont 
short of two years, he was compelled by the oppo- 



80 John Knox. 

sition excited to leave Italy, and return to Paris. 
Thence, in the Autumn, he repaired to Geneva, 
and was persuaded by Farel and Pierre Viret, 
Reformed ministers, to settle" there as a preacher. 
A year previous the new doctrine was established 
by a decree of the government; but on the minis- 
ters attempting to reform the morals of the people 
by refusing the sacrament to the vicious, a storm 
was raised against them, augmented by parties 
who strove to restore some of the Roman super- 
stitions, the consequence of which was that Calvin 
and his colleagues Farel and Viret were banished 
from the city. He went to Strasburg, and was 
soon elected professor of theology and pastor of 
the French Church. In 1540, the excitement 
against his views having subsided, prominent op- 
posers of discipline having died, some by a violent 
death, he was invited to return to Geneva. He ac- 
cepted the invitation, and was welcomed back with 
enthusiasm by the magistrates and by the people. 

The same year, before coming to Geneva, he 
published a book on the Lord's-supper, in which 
he sought to refute both the consubstantiation of 



The Scottish Reformation. 8j 



Luther and the typical representation of Zwinglius, 
the latter view, however, some nine years after- 
ward, at the conference in Zurich, he confessed 
that he acquiesced in and preferred. 

Established in Geneva, he gave his attention 
to settling the order of the Church. He composed 
a liturgy of the Church, a catechism, and a com- 
mentary on the Epistle to Titus; preached almost" 
daily, lectured often on theology, and wrote de- 
fenses of the Reformed religion. The library of 
Geneva now contains two thousand and twenty- 
five manuscripts left by Calvin, some of which are 
theological treatises. He founded a seminary for 
the theological education of pious young men who 
aimed to become Protestant ministers, and he 
exerted himself to secure refuge and hospitality 
for the persecuted disciples of the new faith, who 
were forced to flee from their own native lands. 
Notwithstanding, he cherished a degree of the 
same intolerant spirit which characterized the 
whole Christian world at that time. This was ex- 
hibited in the infamous burning of Dr. Michael 
Servetus, at his instigation, by the Council of 



82 John Knox. 

Geneva, on the charge of heresy in rejecting the 
doctrine of the Trinity. Calvin was of medium 
stature, of sallow complexion, brilliant eyes, and 
benign aspect. His constitution was weak, and 
he was subject to frequent sickness. He was 
married when resident at Strasburg to a widow, 
Idelette De Buris, by whom he had a son, who 
died in childhood. His wife died in 1549, and 
he remained single during the rest of his life. 
In the year 1564, his health rapidly decayed; but 
he still persisted in his public labors. On the 
27th of March, he was carried into the assembly, 
and delivered his farewell address. A week later 
he received the sacrament at the Church from the 
hands of Beza. In May he delivered an affecting 
oration to the syndics, and to the ministers of the 
town assembled in his chamber he made his last 
address. On the 24th of May, he closed his eyes 
in death, aged fifty-four. He was temperate, 
austere, disinterested, inflexible in purpose, hav- 
ing no passion but for religious controversy, and 
an unflinching believer in what seemed to be the 
meaning of the Word of God, however repugnant 



The Scottish Reformation. 83 

to common sense and the moral reason. The 
letter of the law blinded him; and though he 
could see that c * this is my body" could not be 
taken literally, he could see " infant damnation" 
in the idiomatic phrase, " Jacob have I loved, 
and Esau have I hated." Let it be pardoned to 
the fathers of the Reformation that, having found 
the Holy Scriptures, and established in their minds 
the principle of making it the rule of faith and 
practice, instead of tradition and the authority of 
the Church, they made too much haste to de- 
termine the interpretation of the inspired records, 
and got entangled ii>error by taking its Hebrew 
idioms for direct statements. The five points of 
Calvinism — 1. predestination; 2. particular re- 
demption; 3. total depravity; 4. irresistible grace; 
and, 5. final perseverance — are now laid on the 
shelf of indifference, or so modified and explained 
that Calvin would not know them. His great 
name, however, lingers in thousands of Churches 
where his peculiar dogmas are never preached. 
The Constitution of the Church as perfected by 

Calvin made it a republican synodical govern- 
6 



84 John Knox. 

ment. The congregation elects elders and chooses 
the ministers, and by the elders and ministers ad- 
ministers discipline and the distribution of alms. 
The ministers and a portion of the elders consti- 
tute the synod, whence the Churches receive their 
laws. This system of doctrine and discipline was 
accepted by Knox as most agreeable to the New 
Testament, and by his influence it was instituted 
in Scotland, and has substantially remained to the 
present day. Knox and Calvin were of about the 
same age, and their agreement in sentiment made 
their intercourse mutually pleasant, and cemented 
a lasting friendship between them. Geneva hav- 
ing so much that was congenial to him, was now- 
adopted as his home while in exile; yet nothing 
could keep him from longing for a return to his 
native land, and from constant anxiety to know 
about the fortunes of his friends and of true re- 
ligion there. In Midsummer he went once more 
to Dieppe for tidings. Alas! the news was any 
thing but cheering. The persecuting hand of the 
fanatical Mary was being laid more and more 
heavily upon the unhappy Protestants, and, worst 



The Scottish Reformation. 85 

of all, many of his own disciples were apostatizing 
from the truth. How he felt, may be seen in 
his letter to his mother-in-law. 

"By. pen will I write, because the bodies are 
put asunder to meet again at God's pleasure, that 
which by mouth, and face to face, ye have heard, 
that if man or angel labor to bring you back 
from the confession that once you have given, 
let them in that behalf be accursed. If any 
trouble you above measure, whether they be 
magistrates or carnal friends, they shall bear their 
just condemnation, unless they speedily repent. 
But now, mother, comfort you my heart (God 
grant you may) in this my great affliction and 
dolorous pilgrimage ; continue stoutly to the end, 
and bow you never before that idol, and so will 
the rest of worldly troubles be unto me more toler- 
able. With my own heart I oft commune, yea, 
and, as it were, comforting myself, I appear to 
triumph, that God shall not suffer you to fall in 
that rebuke. Sure I am that both ye would fear 
and eshame to commit that abomination in my 
presence, who am but a wretched man, subject to 



86 John Knox. 

sin and misery like to yourself. But, O mother ! 
though no earthly creature should be offended 
with you, yet fear ye the presence and offense 
of Him, who, present in all places, searcheth the 
very heart and reins, whose indignation, once 
kindled against the disobedient, and no sin more 
inflameth his wrath than idolatry, no creature in 
heaven nor in earth is able to appease." 

In this strain he wrote to his erring disciples, 
and warned them to repent, on peril of eternal 
punishment. He composed also in the same mood 
his Admonition to England, which was published 
some months later. In this tract the utterance of 
his indignation against those bigots who had se- 
duced, or by pains and penalties driven his poor dis- 
ciples to apostatize from the truth of the Gospel, 
was terrible. He pours upon the head of the cruel 
Bishops Bonner and Gardiner and of the bloody 
queen the bitterest execrations and curses. Many 
have censured the wrathful language he employed ; 
but who that has read the inspired Psalms of 
David can fail to perceive a parallel? and did not 
Jesus himself denounce the heaviest woes upon 



The Scottish Reformation. 87 

the enemies of his Gospel and those who sought 
to put him to death? "Who quarrels with the 
ruggedness of the rock." asks Dr. Guthrie, "that 
presents a bold front to the roaring sea, and, with- 
standing their shock, flings back the proud waves 
into their bed, defending the land from deluge, 
and its inhabitants from death? Knox was not 
more stern than the time required." 

So fierce were the persecutions of the Reform- 
ers in England that multitudes of every age and 
condition in life fled to the Continent, among 
whom it was reckoned were no less than eight 
hundred of the most learned men of the times. 
The principal cities of refuge were Zurich, Basle, 
Geneva, Arron, Embden, Wesel, Strasburg, 
Duysburgh, and Frankfort. They were wel- 
comed with ardent love and sympathy by the 
Church, and assisted to find a permanent living. 
Contributions from England were sent to them 
from time to time. Of this matter, Knox writes 
to Mrs. Bowes: "My own estate I can not well 
declare; but God shall guide the footsteps of him 
that is wilsome, and will feed him in trouble that 



88 John Knox. 

never greatly solicited for tbe world. If the col- 
lection might be made among the faithful, it were 
no shame for me to receive that which Paul re- 
fused not in time of his trouble. But all I remit 
to His providence, that ever careth for his own." 
Returning to Geneva, he devoted himself to vari- 
ous studies, and particularly to the Hebrew lan- 
guage, which he had failed to learn in early life. 

The exiles from England at Frankfort, an im- 
perial city on the Main, obtained from the magis- 
trates permission to use for worship a part of the 
time the Protestant French Church. The English 
language was to be used, but the liturgy was to 
be conformed to the simple service of the French 
Church as nearly as possible. Having accorded 
with this condition and arranged to omit the lit- 
urgy, the audible responses, the surplice, and 
other inconsiderable forms, elected a pastor and 
deacons, and adopted rules for their government, 
'they sent forth invitations to various places, invit- 
ing their English brethren to join them. The 
brethren at Strasburg recommended certain per- 
sons as superintendents; but it was not thought 



The Scottish Reformation. 89 

best to have superintendents, but to elect three 
pastors of equal authority. At the election, Knox 
was chosen as one of the pastors. Apprehensive 
of difficulties, he hesitated; but Calvin persuaded 
him to accept the appointment, and he com- 
menced his ministry with the unanimous approval 
of the congregation. Already division existed 
among the people in regard to the alteration of 
the English service, some thinking that it would 
be a reflection on the brethren in England, who 
were in peril of their lives on account of adhering 
to their forms of worship, as established by good 
King Edward IV. Knox took the position of 
mediator, and declined both to use the German 
service, which he preferred, and the English lit- 
urgy, to which he made exceptions, and asked 
permission to conduct worship in the manner most 
in accordance with the Scriptures, or to be ex- 
cused from every exercise but preaching. If his 
request could not be granted, he asked to be dis- 
missed from his charge altogether. This they 
would not agree to, but appointed him on a com- 
mittee to make a summary of the Book of Com- 



mon Prayer, and to translate it into Latin, and 
send it to Calvin for his advice. He advised that 
they should modify the prayer-book, and not ad- 
here superstitiously to forms that were ill adapted 
to present use. Accordingly, a committee of re- 
vision was appointed, who drafted a modification 
of the English service, with additions suited to 
the existing circumstances of the congregation. 
This was agreed to unanimously, with the under- 
standing that it should be in force until the last 
of April of that year, 1555, and if any difference 
of opinion should arise about the service, it should 
be referred to five of the most distinguished of the 
foreign ministers. 

Things went on harmoniously until the 13th of 
March, when Dr. Cox, formerly preceptor to Ed- 
ward VI, and some other English brethren, ar- 
rived at Frankfort, and on their first meeting with 
the Church for worship frowardly interrupted the 
established order by making the responses of the 
English liturgy;- and when requested to refrain 
from this innovation, they insisted that " they 
would do as they had done in England." Worse 



The Scottish Reformation. 91 

than that, on the next Sabbath one of them, with- 
out invitation of the pastors or the Church, took 
the pulpit, and read the litany, while Dr. Cox 
and his associates uttered the responses ! In the 
afternoon it was Knox's turn to preach, and he 
administered a severe rebuke to those who had 
committed this outrage, and proceeded to declare 
his objections to the English liturgy, which those 
intruders meant to impose upon the congregation. 
He added that slackness in reforming religion, 
when opportunity offers, was " one cause of the 
divine displeasure against England." Great excite- 
ment followed this discourse, and a meeting of 
the Church was called to consider the complaints 
on both sides. The friends of Dr. Cox insisted 
on voting, but the majority objected to it, as they 
had not yet subscribed to the discipline of the 
Church. Knox, however, in his excessive mag- 
nanimity, advised that the point should be con- 
ceded ; whereupon, sustained by a majority of 
the voices, Dr. Cox proceeded to discharge 
Knox from his office as preacher! The magis- 
trates, seeing the disorder that ensued, interfered, 



92 John Knox. 

and finally issued an order that the form of wor- 
ship should be exactly in harmony with that of 
the French Church, or they should be denied the 
use of that place of worship. 

The party of Cox at first yielded to this decis- 
ion, but they were determined to get rid of Knox, 
and five of their number were put forward to 
charge him with treason against the Emperor of 
Germany, Charles V, his son Philip, and Queen 
Mary, which they sought to prove by passages 
from his "Admonition to England." One passage 
described the cruelty of Mary; but the principal 
passage on which they relied to prove treason 
against the sovereigns mentioned, was a protest 
against the prospective marriage of Queen Mary 
with Philip II. "O England, England, if thou 
wilt obstinately return unto Egypt; that is, if thou 
contract marriage, confederacy, or league with 
such princes as do maintain and advance idola- 
try, such as the emperor, who is no less enemy to 
Christ than even was Nero ; if, for the pleasure of 
such princes thou return to thy old abominations 
before used under Papistry, then assuredly, O Eng- 



The Scottish Reformation. 93 

land, thou shalt be plagued and brought to de- 
struction by the means of those whose favor thou 
seekest." The magistrates hardly knew what to 
do in this matter; they saw and detested the 
mean and vicious conduct of the intruders, but 
they were afraid that they might be required to 
deliver up the accused to the Emperor's Council 
or to the Queen of England for trial, and so they 
sent a friend of Knox to advise him to withdraw 
from Frankfort. Accordingly Knox called together 
at his lodgings his friends, of whom there were 
about fifty persons, and delivered to them a fare- 
well discourse. The next day they accompanied 
him some miles on his journey to Geneva, and with 
prayers and tears bade him an affectionate adieu. 

Soon after his departure, the party of Dr. Cox 
prevailed upon the magistrates to allow them to 
set up the English liturgy, and to provide a 
bishop. And here, then, in Germany was the 
Church of England established in full stature, 
looking proudly down upon the simple evangel- 
ical Churches of the Reformation, "which had 
neither bishop, nor liturgy, nor surplice." "Here 



94 John Knox. 

was," says M'Crie, "in miniature a striking pic- 
ture of that contentious scene, which was after- 
wards exhibited on a larger scale in the mother 
country." Calvin wrote to Dr. Cox that it would 
have been il better for him to have remained at 
home than to have brought a fire-brand into a for- 
eign country to inflame a peaceable society." 

As to Knox, Providence was opening the way 
for his return to Scotland. 



The Scottish Reformation. 95 



KNOX IN EDINBURGH — DEATH OF EDWARD VI — MARY OF 
LORRAINE, REGENT OF SCOTLAND — KNOX'S EFFORTS 
FOR RETURN — CALLED TO ACCOUNT — APPEAL TO THE 
QUEEN REGENT — RETURNS TO GENEVA. 



HOUGH Knox enjoyed the learned leisure 



of his residence in Geneva, his affections 
were set on home and the work of reformation 
in England and Scotland. Letters from his family 
assuring him that it would be safe to visit them, 
determined him to undertake the journey. He 
takes his old route by the way of Dieppe, and 
reaches the north-east coast of England about the 
beginning of Autumn, 1555. After two years of ab- 
sence he is once more at home, happy to find his 
wife and her mother, and a circle of friends 
and neighbors holding fast their integrity 
and rejoicing in the Lord, who had kept them 
from relapsing into Popery. Refreshed by their 




96 John Knox. 

company he proposes to make a short visit to 
Edinburgh to see for himself what now were the 
prospects of the good cause. Eight years had 
elapsed since he was taken prisoner in the castle 
of St. Andrews and carried into France. Many 
changes had taken place in Church and State. 

The apostasy of the Regent Arran to the 
Roman faith had given a triumph to the enemies 
of the Reformation, which was checked by the 
battle of Pinkie Cleugh, in which the Protestant 
protector of England, the Duke. of Somerset, de- 
feated the Scottish army with great slaughter. 

The death of young Edward VI, in 1553, and 
the enthronement of Catholic Mary, so disastrous 
to England, seemed to threaten the Reformation 
in Scotland, but really proved a benefit by bringing 
into it many of the refugees from the persecutions 
of Mary. The next year Arran resigned his 
office of regent and protector of the infant Mary 
Stuart, to the widow of James V, Mary of Lor- 
raine, who contrary to expectation showed lenity 
to the exiles of England and gave them asylum 
in Scotland. Among them were two preachers 



The Scottish Reformation. 97 

of note, William Harlow and John Willock. 
Harlow was formerly a resident of Edinburgh, 
and fled to England in the reign of Edward VI, 
and was ordained deacon and became an earnest 
and successful preacher of the new faith. John 
Willock was a Franciscan friar in Scotland, and 
becoming a zealous Protestant in like manner found 
refuge in England and became chaplain to the 
Earl of Sussex, the father of Lady Jane Grey. 
To escape from the hands of Mary he fled to the 
Continent, and at this time was commissioned by 
the Duchess of Friesland on political business 
to the queen regent of Scotland. He was joined 
here by distinguished friends of the cause, 
including John Erskine of Dun and William 
Maitland, secretaries of the queen regent. In 
this company Knox held meetings with the Re- 
formers in private houses, and with an eloquence 
and zeal such as no man ever excelled, he thrilled 
their hearts and kindled afresh the flames of the 
Reformation. He had intended to spend but a 
few days in Scotland, but how could he leave 
such a work as now opened before him? The 



98 John Knox. 

following letter to Mrs. Bowes, expresses his 
feelings. As a specimen of Scottish spelling it 
will be left untranslated. 

"The wayis of man ar not in his awn power. 
Albeit my journey toward Scotland, belovit mother, 
was maist contrarious to my awn judgement, be- 
foir I did interpryse the same; yet this day I 
prais God for thame wha was the cause extern all 
of my resort to these quarteris; that is, I prais 
God in yow and for yow, whome hie maide the 
instrument to draw me frome the den of my awn 
eas (you allane did draw me from the rest of 
quyet studie), to contemplat and behald the fer- 
vent thrist of oure brethrene, night and day sob- 
bing and gronyng for the breid of lyfe. If I 
had not sene it with my eis, in my awn contry, 
I culd not have beleveit it! I praisit God, when 
I was with you, perceaving that, in the middis 
of Sodome, God had mo Lottis than one, and 
ma faithful docthteris than tua. But the fervencie 
heir dioth fer exceid all utheris that I have seen. 
And thairfoir ye sail pacientlie bear, altho' I spend 
heir yet some dayis; for depart I can not unto 



The Scottish Reformation. 99 



sic tyme as God quenche thair tbrist a litill. Yea, 
mother, thair fervencie doith sa ravische me that 
I can not but accus and condemp my sleuthful 
coldness. God grant thame thair hartis desyre ; 
and I pray yow adverteis me of your estait, and 
of thingis that have occurit sence your last wryt- 
ting. Comfort your self in Godis promissis, and 
be assureit that God steiris up mo friendis than 
we be war of. My commendation to all in your 
company. I commit you to the protectioun of the 
Omnipotent. In great haist; the 4. of November, 
1555. From Scotland. 

"Yoursone, Johne Knox." 

Knox was grieved to find the brethren in the 
habit of attending worship in churches where the 
Popish ritual, including the mass, was observed. 
Maitland defended the practice as expedient un- 
der the circumstances; but Knox, by arguments 
both of Scripture and of expedience, convinced 
them that it was wrong to temporize so far. Mait- 
land himself conceded that " such shifts would 

serve nothing before God, when they stood in so 

7 



ioo John Knox. 

much need before men." The result was a formal 
and unanimous agreement to separate themselves 
altogether from the Roman communion. This 
was an important point gained in fixing the Ref- 
ormation. 

Knox now accepted an invitation to accom- 
pany Erskine of Dun to Ayreshire, and spent a 
month in preaching almost daily in that vicinity, 
attracting alike the attention of the gentry and 
common people. He next visited Sir James 
Sandilands, at Calder House, in West Lothian. 
Here he had the audience of such men as Lord 
Lorn, afterwards Earl of Argyle; Lord Erskine, 
afterwards Earl of Mar ; and Lord James Stuart, 
natural son of James V, then prior of St. Andrews, 
and afterwards Earl of Murray and Regent of 
Scotland — a most noble man, distinguished for his 
moral heroism and downright honesty. "A pic- 
ture of Knox/' says Miss Warren, " still hangs 
against the wall in one of the rooms at Calder 
House; on the back of it is inscribed, 'The Rev. 
John Knox. The first sacrament of the Lord's- 
supper given in Scotland after the Reformation 



The Scottish Reformation. ioi 



was dispensed in this hall.' This must allude to 
the establishment of the Reformation, for John 
Knox, as we have seen, administered the sacra- 
ment at St. Andrews in 1547." Later he visited 
Kyle, in company with Lockhart of Bar, and 
Campbell of Kineancleugh, and preached in their 
houses, and of others of the gentry there and in 
the town of Ayr. In several of these meetings 
he dispensed the sacrament of the Lord's-supper, 
according to the simplest forms of the reformed 
doctrine. In the Spring, the Earl of Glencairn 
invited him to his manor of Finlayston, where he 
administered the sacrament; thence he returned 
to Calder House and to Dun, preaching more 
publicly than before. At Mearns the principal 
men partook of the sacrament, and made a solemn 
pledge to renounce the Papal religion, and to de- 
vote themselves to the promotion of the pure faith 
of the Gospel. "This," says M'Crie, "seems to 
have been the first of religious bands or covenants 
by which the confederation of Protestants in Scot- 
land was so frequently ratified." Until lately, the 
silver cups used at these services were preserved 



102 John Knox. 

in the Glencairn family at Finlayston, and were 
used on sacramental occasions at the parish 
church. 

These movements of Knox were now reported 
to the government, and who and what he was 
became the topic at the court. Some one said 
that he was an Englishman. Beaton, Archbishop 
of Glasgow, answered, " Nay, no Englishman ; 
but it is Knox, that knave." On this Knox re- 
marks, "It was my Lord's pleasure so to baptize 
a poor man, the reason whereof, if it should be 
required, his rochet and miter must stand for au- 
thority. For what hath my life and conversation 
been since it hath pleased God to call me from 
the puddle of Papistry, let my very enemies speak; 
and what learning I have, they may prove when 
they please." The queen regent was applied to 
by the bishops to apprehend Knox; but she de- 
clined. However, the friars in the places where 
he had preached bestirred themselves, and pre- 
vailed upon the bishops to call him to account 
before the ecclesiastical courts. A convention of 
the clergy was called, to meet on the 15th of 



The Scottish Reformation. 103 

May, 1556, at the Church of the Black Friars in 
Edinburgh, and Knox was cited to appear before 
them. Promptly Knox arrived at Edinburgh, in 
company with Erskine of Dun and other gentle- 
men ; but the clergy, surprised by his appearance, 
and not sure of the support of the queen regent, 
held a preliminary meeting, reconsidered the sum- 
mons, and, on pretense of some informality, re- 
scinded it. Knox found the church empty, 
and the diet adjourned. But he took occasion 
to use the Bishop of Dunkeld's large lodging, and 
preached to the largest audience ever addressed 
by him in Edinburgh. He followed it up for ten 
days, preaching forenoon and afternoon at the 
same place, with no one to molest or forbid him. 
In the midst of these extraordinary movements, 
Knox wrote to Mrs. Bowes: 

"Beloved Mother, — With my most hearty com- 
mendation in the Lord Jesus, albeit I was fully 
purposed to have visited you before this time, yet 
hath God laid impediments which I could not 
avoid. They are such as I doubt not are to his 
glory, and to the comfort of many here. The 



104 John Knox. 

trumpet blew the old sound three days together, 
till private houses of indifferent largeness could 
not contain the voice of it. God, for Christ his 
Son's sake, grant me to be mindful that the sobs 
of my heart have not been in vain, nor neglected 
in the presence of his majesty. Oh, sweet were 
the death that should follow such forty days in 
Edinburgh as I have had there ! Rejoice, 
mother; the time of our deliverance approach- 
eth : for as Satan rageth, so does the grace of 
the Holy Spirit abound, and daily giveth new 
testimony of the everlasting love of our merciful 
Father. I can write no more to you at this pres- 
ent. The grace of the Lord Jesus rest with you. 
In haste — this Monday. 

"Your son, "John Knox." 

One evening the Earl of Glencairn invited the 
Earl Marshal to hear Knox. He was so moved 
and delighted with his exhortation, that he joined 
Glencairn in urging him to address an appeal to 
the queen regent for protection for himself and 
the Protestant preachers. Leaving out the Scotch 



The Scottish Reformation. 105 

orthography, the following is the introductory 
portion of the letter he wrote : 

" I doubt not that the rumors which have come 
to your grace's ears of me, have been such that 
(if all reports were true) I were unworthy to live 
in the earth. And wonder it is that the voices of 
the multitude should not so have inflamed your 
Grace's heart with just hatred of such a one as I 
am accused to be, that all access to pity should 
be shut up. I am traduced as an heretic, accused 
as a false preacher and seducer of the people, be- 
sides other opprobria, which (affirmed by men of 
worldly honor and estimation) may easily kindle 
the wrath of magistrates where innocence is not 
known. But blessed be God, the Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the dew of his heav- 
enly grace, hath so quenched the fire of displeasure 
as yet in your grace's heart (which of late days I 
have understood) that Satan is frustrated of his 
enterprise and purpose. Which is to my heart no 
small comfort; not so much (God is witness) for 
any benefit I can receive in this miserable life 
by protection of an earthly creature (for the cup 



106 John Knox. 

which it behooveth me to drink is appointed by 

the wisdom of Him whose counsels are not change- 
able), as that I am for that benefit which I am 
assured your grace shall receive ; if that you con- 
tinue in the like moderation and clemency toward 
others, that most unjustly are and shall be ac- 
cused, as that your Grace hath begun toward me 
and my most desperate cause. " 

After this conciliatory preface, he went on in 
the same spirit, though in the clumsy and tedious 
style characteristic of the literature of that period, 
to plead for the protection of those who sought to 
reform religion. "He was aware that a public 
reformation might be thought to exceed her au- 
thority as regent; but she could not be bound to 
maintain abuses, nor to suffer the fury of the 
clergy to rage in murdering innocent men, merely 
because they worshiped God according to his 
Word." 

The letter was delivered to her by the Earl of 
Glencairn. She just glanced at its contents, and 
handed it * to the Archbishop of Glasgow, who 
was present, saying, "Please you, my lord, to read 



The Scottish Reformation. 107 

a pasquil?" Knox was mortified and incensed 
when he heard of the ungracious manner in which 
his appeal was received. And when he had got 
away from the country, where it was safe to deal 
plainly with the tyrannical lady, he vented his in- 
dignation by publishing his letter, describing its' 
scornful reception, and adding a rebuke, which 
closed thus: "My duty to God (who hath com- 
manded me to flatter no prince on earth) com- 
pelleth me to say that if no more ye esteem the 
admonition of God than the cardinals do the 
scoffing of pasquils, then he shall shortly send 
messengers with whom ye shall not be able in 
that manner to jest. I did not speak to you, 
madam, by my former letter, nor yet do I now, as 
Pasquillus doth to the Pope in behalf of such as 
dare not utter their names. I come in the name 
of Jesus Christ, affirming that the religion ye main- 
tain is damnable idolatry, the which I offer my- 
self to prove by the most evident testimonies of 
God's Scriptures. And in this quarrel I present 
myself against all the Papists within the realm, 
desiring no other armor but God's holy Word 



108 John Knox. 

and the liberty of my tongue." Such bold in- 
vectives would not be likely to awaken any thing 
but deeper animosity in the heart of the queen 
dowager and the friends of the Roman faith; 
but it had the effect of rousing the spirits of the 
common people, and emboldening them to contend 
for their opinions in the face of perils to their 
lives and estates. 

Such was the state of affairs in Scotland when 
letters arrived from Geneva inviting and urging 
him to become pastor of the English Church then 
made up in part of his former congregation at 
Frankfort. His wife and her mother, now a 
widow, were with him at Edinburgh, and taking 
counsel with them and his friends, he felt it his 
duty to accept this call as from God. To many 
it seemed strange that he should be willing to 
leave the Reformation in Scotland at this stage 
when he had got in the entering wedge and by 
further blows might greatly advance the cause; 
but he felt the Spirit of God to whom all things 
were known had so directed him, and the event 
shows that he was right, for his absence took 



The Scottish Reformation. 109 

away the rallying point of opposition and his dis- 
ciples scattered abroad were allowed to escape for 
the time, and to prepare for a stronger and more 
effectual effort at a future time. He sent his 
wife and her mother in advance to Dieppe to 
make sure of their safety; and then turned to 
make a few farewell visits to his Protestant breth- 
ren. The aged Earl of Argyle received him 
cordially at the castle Campbell, and was much 
edified by his preaching. He tried to persuade 
him not to leave Scotland, as also did the Laird 
of Glenorchy and others, but he said to all, "If 
God so blesses their small beginnings, that they 
continued in godliness, whensoever they pleased 
to command him, they should find him obedient. 
But once he must needs visit that little flock now 
at Geneva, which the wickedness of men had 
compelled him to leave." In July, 1556, he was 
once more with Calvin and the dear brethren 
who had been so distressed by the bigotry and 
High-churchism of their own countrymen at 
Frankfort. 

The Roman clergy now got courage to kick the 



no John Knox. 

dead lion. They summoned him to trial, but 
he not making his appearance they proceeded 
to condemn him — "Adjudging his body to the 
flames, and his soul to damnation." They then got 
up an effigy of the heretic, and burnt it at the cross 
of Edinburgh. To protest against high-handed in- 
justice and insult he wrote his Appellation. The 
probability is that if Knox had remained much 
longer in Scotland he would have been a martyr 
to the cause — the time for a general reformation 
of religion was not yet. On departing Knox 
had left letters of advice to his brethren ; he 
exhorted them to have daily family worship 
and to combine several families for Sabbath 
worship; every meeting should be opened and 
closed with prayer, a portion of Scripture should 
be read, and remarks upon it be made by any 
brother present; they should avoid controversy, 
and submit in writing any questions on the 
Scriptures which they could not solve to the 
judgment of the learned. Very good advice, 
and it was doubtless followed for a long time. 



The Scottish Reformation. 



hi 



Cl^ptef VI. 



KNOX IN GENEVA — BIRTH OF HIS SONS — LORDS OF THE 
CONGREGATION WRITE TO HIM TO RETURN TO SCOT- 
LAND — DETAINED AT DIEPPE — WRITES TWO IMPORTANT 
LETTERS — ENGAGES IN THE WORK OF TRANSLATING 
THE BIBLE — PUBLISHES HIS BLAST AGAINST FEMALE 
SOVEREIGNTY — THE LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION OP- 
POSE THE REGENT — HARLOW, DOUGLAS, WILLOCK, AND 
OTHERS PROTECTED BY THEM — MARTYRDOM OF WAL- 
TER MILNE KNOX STARTS AGAIN FOR SCOTLAND — PLOT 

OF THE QUEEN REGENT TO SUPPRESS THE REFORMA- 
TION — RIOTS IN EDINBURGH. 



URING the two years Knox resided at 



Geneva, two sons were born to him. In 
the quiet of home, and in the fellowship of his 
Christian brethren, his days glided on more hap- 
pily than he had known for many years. His 
colleague in the ministry was Christopher Good- 
man, whose name expressed his character, for he 
was a good man, who bore in his heart the Lord 
Jesus. Calvin was there in all the glory of a great 




112 



John Knox. 



leader of the Reformation in Switzerland and 
France, whose Churches Knox believed were built 
upon the model of the original Church of Christ. 
To his friend in England, Mr. Locke, he writes 
with enthusiasm: "In my heart I could have 
wished, yea, and can not cease to wish, that it 
might please God to guide and conduct yourself 
to this place, where, I neither fear nor eshame to 
say, is the most perfect school of Christ that ever 
was in the earth since the days of the apostles. 
In other places I confess Christ to be truly 
preached; but manners and religipn so sincerely 
reformed, I have not yet seen in any other place 
besides." 

But all this time he had not ceased to feel the 
deepest interest in the welfare of his brethren in 
Scotland and England, hoping that the time might 
come when he could return to promote among 
them the same blessed religion and Church order 
which so satisfied him in Geneva. "My own 
motion and daily prayer is," he wrote to friends 
in Edinburgh, "not only that I may visit you, 
but also that with- joy I may end my battle among 



The Scottish Reformation. 113 

you. And assure yourself of that, that whenever 
a greater number among you shall call upon me 
than now hath bound me to serve them, by grace 
it shall not be the fear of punishment, neither yet 
of the death temporal, that shall impede my com- 
ing to you." 

Shortly after this letter was written, he re- 
ceived a communication from the leading Re- 
formers in Scotland, the Earl of Glencairn, Lord 
Lorn, Erskine of Dun, and Lord James Stuart, 
desiring his return, and assuring him that the way 
was now open for his success. "The faithful of 
his acquaintance," they said, "were steadfast to 
the belief in which he left them; they thirsted for 
his presence, and were ready to jeopard their 
lives for the glory of God. Little cruelty had been 
used against them ; the influence of the friars was 
decreasing, and they had good hopes that God 
would augment this flock. " An event had hap- 
pened which demonstrated the improved position 
of the Reformation. The Roman clergy had pre- 
vailed upon the queen dowager to summon the 
reformed preachers to meet her and the bishops 



ii4 John Knox. 

and clergy to give an account of their doings. 
They came with many friends — some of them men 
of influence. This alarmed the regent, and she 
ordered them to return home for fifteen days. 
But Chalmers of Cortgirth stood forward, and 
said: " We know, madam, that this is the desire 
of the bishops who now stand beside you. We 
avow to God it shall not go so. They oppress us 
and our poor tenants to feed themselves; they 
trouble our ministers, and seek to undo them and 
us all. We will not suffer it any longer." The 
barons echoed this boldness, and put on their 
steel bonnets. The regent was moved with alarm, 
and assured them that she meant no harm to the 
preachers. She revoked the proclamation, and 
dismissed them in peace. 

Things being in this condition, and the letter 
from the lords and gentlemen being so urgent for 
Knox's return, he laid the message before his 
congregation and the ministers in Geneva for their 
counsel. Unanimously they concluded " that he 
could not refuse the call without showing himself 
rebellious to God and unmerciful to his country." 



The Scottish Reformation. 115 

It was hard for his own family, from whom he 
had been so much parted before coming to Switz- 
erland, to give their assent, but they were given 
grace not to oppose what seemed to be the will 
of God. Accordingly, he responded favorably to 
the call, and promised to make no delay in com- 
ing to Edinburgh. Another pastor was elected in 
his place, and having settled his affairs and taken 
leave of his family and the Church, many of whom 
wept at bidding him adieu, he took his journey to 
Dieppe, to await a packet for Scotland. To his 
surprise and mortification after his arrival, he re- 
ceived a letter from those who had sent him this 
call, .stating that they had changed their minds in 
regard to it, and that they deemed it inexpedient 
for him to visit Scotland at present. He immedi- 
ately replied, expressing his chagrin and disap-* 
pointment, after all that had been said and done, 
and his alarm for them and for the cause of relig- 
ion on account of their pusillanimity and want of 
decision. "What are the sobs/' he adds, "and 
what is the affliction of my troubled heart, God 

shall one day declare. But this will I add to my 
8 



n6 



John Knox. 



former rigor and severity; to wit, if any persuade 
you, for fear of dangers to follow, to faint in your 
former purpose, be he esteemed never so wise 
and friendly, let him be judged of you both fool- 
ish and your mortal enemy. I am not ignorant 
that fearful troubles shall ensue your enterprise, as 
in my former letters I did signify unto you. But 
oh! joyful and comfortable are those troubles and 
adversities which man sustaineth for accomplish- 
ment of God's will revealed in his Word. For 
how terrible that ever they appear to the judg- 
ment of natural men, yet are they never able to 
devour nor utterly to consume the sufferers; for 
the invisible and invincible power of God sustain- 
eth and preserveth, according to his promise, all 
such as with simplicity do obey him. No less 
cause have ye to enter in your former enterprise 
than Moses had to go to the presence of Pharaoh ; 
for your subjects, yea your brethren, are oppressed; 
their bodies and souls holden in bondage; and 
God speaketh to your consciences (unless ye be 
dead with the blind world) that ye ought to hazard 
your own lives, be it against kings or emperors, 



The Scottish Reformation. 117 

for their deliverance. For only for that cause are 
ye called princes of the people, and receive honor, 
tribute, and homage at God's commandment, not 
by reason of your birth and progeny (as the most 
part of men falsely do suppose), but by reason of 
your office and duty; which is, to vindicate and 
deliver your subjects and brethren from all vio- 
lence and oppression, to the uttermost of your 
power." 

His enterprise of going to Scotland being 
abandoned for the present, he employed himself 
in preaching in Dieppe, at Rochelle, and in other 
towns in France, where he found groups of Prot- 
estant brethren glad to hear the Word from his 
lips. His letters from time to time to his family 
at Geneva show that his mind was not satisfied 
with the conclusion he came to, not to visit Scot- 
land, and face the perils which his advisers so 
much dreaded. Yet the event shows that the 
postponement of his visit was providential and 
wise. The collision of his own thoughts on the 
subject was terrible at times. " Shall Christ, the 
Author of peace, concord, and quietness, be 



n8 John Knox. 

preached where war is proclaimed, sedition en- 
gendered, and tumults appear to rise ? Shall not 
his evangel be accused as the cause of all this 
calamity which is like to follow ? What comfort 
canst thou have to see the one-half of the people 
rise up against the other, yea, to jeopard the one, 
to murder and destroy the other ? But above all, 
what joy shall it be to thy heart to behold with 
thy eyes thy native country betrayed into the 
hands of strangers, because those who ought to 
defend it are so blind, dull, and obstinate that 
they will not see their own destruction ?" 

During his stay at Dieppe he wrote two im- 
portant letters to the brethren, in one of which he 
exhorts them to avoid every irregularity of life, so 
as to give no occasion for the Papists to rail 
against their new doctrine as the cause of vice; 
and the other was a warning against the Ana- 
baptists, who had appeared among them. He 
'also addressed a letter to the lords, exhorting them 
to avoid resistance to the lawful authorities of 
the land. 

Young Mary, daughter of James V, had been 



The Scottish Reformation. 119 

espoused to the Dauphin of France, afterward as 
king styled Francis II, and jealousy of the French 
had been excited by the queen mother keeping a 
body of French troops in her service. Knox ad- 
mitted that there was a point in the oppressive 
measures of governments beyond which it was no 
virtue for the people to submit, if by resistance it 
was probable that they should secure redress of 
grievances; but up to that moment he insisted 
upon forbearance for the sake of the Gospel, for 
it would be charged with being the cause of sedi- 
tion and rebellion. If in their case the govern- 
ment refused them the privilege of publicly preach- 
ing the doctrines of the Reformation, they should 
hold private meetings, in which the Word might 
be preached and the sacraments administered; but 
if the attempt were made to destroy the lives of 
these brethren, and to crush out by violence and 
bloodshed the new religion, then duty required that 
they should defend the cause by arms — but not till 
then. "For a great difference there is," he says, 
"betwixt lawful obedience and a fearful flattering 
of princes, or an unjust accomplishment of their de- 



120 John Knox. 

sires in things which be required or devised for 
the destruction of the commonwealth." The 
nobles had solicited his advice upon these im- 
portant topics. They received his decisions as in 
accordance with the Word of God, and under 
this prompting they held a council at Edinburgh, 
and on the 3d of December signed a covenant to 
maintain the Protestant faith, to renounce and 
resist " the superstitions, idolatry and abomina- 
tions" of Romanism, and to "set firmer and es- 
tablish, with their whole power and substance, 
God's blessed Word; to labor to have faithful 
ministers, and to defend them at the peril of 
their lives and goods against all tyranny." This 
bond was signed by the Earls of Glencairn, Ar- 
gyle, and Morton, Lord Lorn, Erskine of Dun, 
and many others. 

In 1558, we find Knox, having returned to 
Geneva from his excursions in France, engaged 
with other learned men in making a new English 
translation of the Holy Scriptures. It is that 
version which was called the Geneva Bible, and 
made afterward the ground of the King James 



The Scottish Reformation. 121 



version, which is now used in the Protestant 
Churches speaking the English language. It had 
a large circulation in England and Scotland under 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth and of James VI. 
Moved by the absurd, unjust, cruel conduct of 
Queen Mary, Knox conceived the idea of writing 
his work, entitled, "The First Blast of the Trum- 
pet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women." 
In this extraordinary and unfortunate book he 
argued the natural unfitness of women for political 
supremacy, except only the select few who are 
"by singular privilege and for certain causes ex- 
empted from the common rank of women." Con- 
sequently he affirmed "to 'promote a woman to 
bear rule, superiority, dominion, or empire above 
any realm, nation, or city, is repugnant to nature, 
contumely to God, a thing most contrarious to his 
revealed and approved ordinance, and, finally, a 
subversion of all equity and justice." Great as 
was the excitement and clamor against this book 
by the Queen Dowager of Scotland, Queen Mary 
of England, and their successors, Mary, Queen of 
Scots, and Elizabeth, Queen of England, the late 



122 John Knox.- 

elaborate historians of these reigns have brought 
forth sufficient data to prove that, so far as they 
are concerned, he was right in his opinion. 
Many would make Elizabeth an exception to this 
remark, because of the great prosperity of Eng- 
land during her reign; but no one can peruse the 
pages of Froude's great history of her times with- 
out feeling thankful to almighty God that he gave 
her such wise counselors, and so thwarted her 
capricious policy and overruled untoward events, 
that she was prevented again and again from 
bringing disaster and ruin upon the realm — yet she 
was the best of the four, all of whom brought 
nothing but trouble to the nations they governed. 
At this moment a lady is sovereign of the British 
empire against whom nothing can be said; but it 
has come to pass that the Constitution of the em- 
pire is so modified that popular opinion rules 
through the ministry, who are to hold the office of 
advisers of the throne only so long as they are in 
harmony with a Parliament, or more exactly a 
House of Commons, elected by the people. The 
queen, who has only good sense enough not to 



The Scottish Reformation. 123 

try to thwart the will of the people thus expressed, 
can not but have a prosperous reign — and such a 
queen is Victoria. May she long enjoy her exalted 
position, and may she be succeeded by rulers, 
male or female, like herself, until the masses of 
the people are sufficiently educated to elect su- 
preme rulers, who shall be not figure-heads of the 
ship of state, but wise and experienced pilots. 
Knox never repudiated his opinion, though he 
confessed he had expressed it " with undue vehe- 
mency," and, probably, had he waited till Catho- 
lic Mary was succeeded by Protestant Elizabeth, 
he would never have written it. Elizabeth never 
forgave him. He was to have written two more 
" blasts," but advised by the brethren, and espe- 
cially by the changed aspect of the times after the 
death of Mary I, he gave up his design. An 
answer to his book was written after Elizabeth 
came to the throne, by John Aylmer, and published 
like that anonymously, entitled, "A Harbor for 
Faithful Subjects." It was designed to concili- 
ate Elizabeth to the Reformers, and it inspired 
such favor for its author as resulted in his elec- 



124 John Knox. 

tion to the bishopric of London. The question 
discussed is one which still agitates the Church, 
especially as it respects the right of women to or- 
dination as pastors in the Church; and the war of 
sentiment rages now as then about the text of St. 
Paul's Epistle to Timothy (i Tim. ii, 12): "I 
suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp author- 
ity over the man, but to be in silence." Knox 
maintained that this was an -absolute and univer- 
sal prohibition; Aylmer contended that the rule 
admitted of exceptions, recognized in the Old and 
New Testaments. His opinion of women, as a 
class, was not so favorable one would think as 
that of Knox. For he describes the most part of 
them as ' * fond, foolish, wanton, flibbergibs, tattlers, 
trifling, wavering, witless, without counsel, feeble, 
careless, rash, proud, dainty, nice, tale-bearers, 
eaves-droppers, rumor-raisers, evil-tongued, worse- 
minded, and in every wise doltified with the 
dregs of the devil's dung-hill !" If the queens 
curled their lips at Knox's argument, certainly the 
gentle sex must have turned up their noses at 
Aylmer and his tirade. The truth is, as it seems 



The Scottish Reformation. 125 

to the author of this work, that nature and revela- 
tion agree in making woman's sphere private, with 
exceptions of those who are specially endowed and 
inspired. Paul's interdict finds in his own writings 
in other places, and in his actual life, exceptions 
made through the endowments of nature and the 
gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is for the living Church 
to judge wisely of these exceptions, and as civili- 
zation advances they may be found comparatively 
more numerous than in any age since the day of 
Pentecost. 

The letter of Knox to the lords of Scotland 
had the effect of so inspiring them in the cause 
of the Reformation that they met and framed a 
resolution "that in all parishes of the realm the 
Common Prayer (the service-book of Edward VI) 
should be read weekly, on Sunday, and other fes- 
tival days, in the Parish churches, with the les- 
sons of the Old and New Testaments, conformable 
to the Book of Common Prayer ; and that, if the 
curates of parishes be qualified, they shall be 
caused to read the same; but if they refuse, then 
the most qualified in the parish should do it." 



126 John Knox. 

But another resolution was that "doctrine-preach- 
ing and interpretation of Scripture be read pri- 
vately in quiet houses, avoiding great conventions 
of the people thereto, until such time as God 
should move the princes to grant public preaching 
by true and faithful ministers." 

They now renewed their invitation to Knox to 
come to them, and, to make it more effectual, 
they solicited Calvin to exert his influence in their 
behalf. The state of affairs in Scotland was most 
persuasive. Such preachers as William Harlow, 
John Douglas, Paul Methven, and John Willock 
had taken advantage of a lull in the persecuting 
spirit of the Romanists in consequence of the war 
with England, had returned, and were preaching 
in various places more publicly than ever before. 
This had awakened afresh the hostility of the 
clergy, and their old measures of fire and fagot 
were resorted to again. Walter Milne, an aged 
priest, over eighty years old, a man of amiable 
temper, who had served Protestantism, was 
brought before the archbishop and condemned 
to the flames. No civil judge was willing to ex- 



The Scottish Reformation. 127 

ecute sentence on him, and a servant of the arch- 
bishop's was forced to do the cruel business. 
When brought to the stake, before the fire reached 
him, he uttered a prophecy that time has veri- 
fied: "I am fourscore and two years old, and 
can not live long by the course of nature; but 
a hundred better shall rise from the ashes of my 
bones; and I trust God I am the last that shall 
suffer death for this cause." The people were 
horrified by this scene, and they broke through 
all the restraints that custom and law had imposed 
upon them, and every-where held public-meetings 
for Protestant worship, and denounced the cruelty 
of the clergy. The queen regent was believed to 
be without complicity in these persecutions, and 
she was appealed to by the leaders and lords of the 
congregation to protect the people from the tyranny 
of the clerical order, and to grant them full lib- 
erty of worship and religious instructions on a 
plan which they suggested. She replied that she 
was favorable to their proposed wishes, and would 
take measures speedily to give them the support 
of law. Such being the auspicious circumstances 



128 



John Knox. 



attending the work in Scotland, Knox concluded 
at once to prepare for his return, and, leaving his 
family for the present at Geneva, he took his 
leave in January, 1559. Among the tokens of 
respect presented to him by the citizens was the 
freedom of the city of Geneva. A considerable 
number of the Protestant Churches in Geneva 
and elsewhere, refugees from the persecutions of 
Queen Mary, on learning of her death, had re- 
turned to England. By them Knox had sent let- 
ters to his friends in the court of the new Queen 
Elizabeth to obtain permission for him to pass 
through England on his way to Edinburgh. 
Strange to say, the Protestant Elizabeth and her 
council refused this request, and frowned upon 
the solicitors so angrily that they felt themselves in 
danger of being sent to the Tower. The explana- 
tion of this is that the bigoted High-churchman 
who had made the schism and trouble at Frank- 
fort had reported Knox and his friends as dis- 
loyal, because they had objected to the English 
prayer-book being used in the Church. Knox's 
book on the "Regiment of Women " had been 



The Scottish Reformation. 129 

prompted by the cruelty of Mary, and was now by 
his enemies applied to Elizabeth, as if he were 
unfriendly fo her reign. Knox was not seeking 
his own gratification or convenience in this over- 
ture. He had information obtained by his travels 
across France to Dieppe that the princes of Lor- 
raine, brothers of Mary, the queen regent of Scot- 
land, had concocted a scheme for setting up and 
enforcing the claims of the young Queen of Scots, 
wife of the Dauphin of France, to the succession 
of the English throne, by first suppressing the 
Reformation in Scotland, and then passing on to 
excite the Catholic population of England to 
rebellion. With this in mind, he wrote directly 
to Cecil, Prime Minister and Secretary of Eliza- 
beth, who was a Protestant, and with whom he 
had had when in London a pleasant acquaintance, 
requesting an interview with him or some princi- 
pal officer of the government, that he might give 
information which could not be intrusted to let- 
ters. He adverted to his book, and acknowl- 
edged that he was the author of it, and that he 
still held the sentiments therein expressed as gen- 



130 John Knox. 

eral principles, but he meant no special applica- 
tion of them to Elizabeth, whose elevation to the 
throne he rejoiced in for reasons different from 
what was common. He could scarcely find a 
person in Dieppe willing to carry over his letter — 
such was the disrepute in which he was held at 
the court of the queen — and, finally, before he 
received any response, having got exciting news 
from Scotland, he abruptly set sail, and reached 
Leith about the 1st of May. 

The exciting matters in the intelligence he re- 
ceived at Dieppe were relative to the change of 
temper and policy evinced by the queen regent. 
On his arrival in Scotland, he was more fully in- 
formed that the queen regent was fully committed 
to the schemes of her brothers, and was now de- 
termined to arrest the Reformation. She had 
warned them of the strength of the party, which 
embraced some of the chief nobility, and had 
largely enlisted the sympathies of the common 
people; but it availed nothing, and she finally 
succumbed to their wishes, and entered resolutely 
into the plot. A convention of the clergy had 



The Scottish Reformation. 131 

assembled at Edinburgh in March, in which the 
new aspects of the times were revealed. The 
lords of the congregation proposed that the elec- 
tion of bishops should have the approval of the 
leading men of the diocese, and that parish priests 
should be elected by the people of the parish, and 
that the public prayers of the Church should be in 
the vernacular and not in the Latin tongue. To 
these propositions the synod gave a passionate and 
positive negative. The queen regent also pub- 
lished a decree that all persons should attend the 
daily mass and confession, and she sent a sum- 
mons to the most eminent of the Reformed 
preachers, among whom were Harlow, Douglas, 
and Willock, to answer to accusations at a parlia- 
ment to be held at Stirling on the 10th day of 
May. The lords of the congregation appointed 
the Earl of Glencairn and Sir Hugh Campbell to 
expostulate with the queen regent, and to inter- 
cede in behalf of the preachers whom she was to 
accuse. But she boldly replied to the commis- 
sioners from the lords that "in spite of them they 

should all be banished from Scotland, although 
9 



132 John Knox. 

they preached as truly as ever St. Paul did." 
When she was reminded of the fair promises she 
had previously made, she replied, "It becomes 
not subjects to burden their princes with promises 
further than they are pleased to keep them." 

Rumors that the French troops might be ex- 
pected any day, excited the country from end to 
end. The people of Perth stood forth, and de- 
manded that the Gospel should be preached and 
Edward VPs Prayer-book should be used in the 
churches. The Provost Lord Ruthven was or- 
dered to put down the heresy at once. He re- 
plied that he could bring the bodies of the citizens 
before her till she was satiated with their blood, 
but he had no power over their consciences. In- 
censed with this reply, she gave orders for Dun- 
dee, Montrose, and all other Protestant towns to 
prepare for the sacrament of the mass at the ap- 
proaching Easter, and repeated her summons to 
the leading preachers of the Reformation to ap- 
pear at Stirling. In Edinburgh there had been a 
riot of the people, which Knox described some 
time after in his peculiar style. "The images 



The Scottish Reformation. 133 

were stolen away in all parts of the country, and 
in Edinburgh that great idol called St. Giles was 
first drowned in the North Loch, and afterward 
burned, which raised no small trouble in the 
town." 

The Saint's-day was now approaching, and a 
new idol was extemporized by the Gray Friars, 
and, headed by the queen regent, the procession 
followed the men carrying the idol on a barrow 
down High Street, attended by the music of 
tabours and trumpets. The mob met them, and, 
pretending to assist in carrying the idol, they 
jerked the barrow, and dashed the idol to the 
pavement. "Then," proceeds Knox to say, "the 
priests and friars fled faster than they did at 
Pinkie Cleugh. Down goeth the crosses, off 
goeth the surplices, round caps, and cornets with 
crowns ! The Gray Friars gaped, the Black 
Friars flew, the priests panted and fled, and 
happy was he that first got the house ; for such a 
sudden fray came never amongst the generation 
of antichrist within this realm before !" 

This gives a glimpse of the turmoil of the land 



134 John Knox. 

when Knox landed at Leith. His feelings in view 
of the conflict before him are expressed in a letter 
written the day after his arrival. 

' 6 It hath pleased the merciful providence of 
my heavenly Father to conduct me to Edinburgh, 
where I arrived on the 2d of May, uncertain as 
yet what God should further work in this country, 
except that I see the battle shall be great. For 
Satan rageth even to the uttermost, and I am 
come, I praise my God, even in the brunt of the 
battle. For my fellow-preachers have a day ap- 
pointed to answer before the queen regent, the 
10th of this instant, when I intend (if God im- 
pede not) also to be present; by life, by death, or 
else by both, to glorify his godly name, who thus 
mercifully hath heard my long cries. AssisMne, 
sister, with your prayers, that now I shrink not, 
when the battle approacheth. Other things I have 
to communicate with you, but travel after travel 
doth so occupy me, that no time is granted me to 
write. Advertise my brother, Mr. Goodman, of 
my estate, as, in my other letter sent unto you 
from Dieppe, I willed you. The grace of our 



The Scottish Reformation. 135 

Lord Jesus Christ rest with you. From Edin- 
burgh, in haste, the 3d of May." 

Thus was the warrior of the cross equipping for 
the battle. "The ship in which Knox crossed," 
wrote Mr. Froude, "carried a seal to the 
regent, engraved with the arms of England, and 
carried with it in himself the person who, above 
all others, baffled the conspiracy, and saved Eliza- 
beth and the Reformation." The cry, "John 
Knox is come," was like the sound of a trumpet 
inspiriting the people, and calling them to battle. 



136 John Knox. 



Cfykptei? VII. 

LANDING AT LEITH — TREACHERY OF THE QUEEN REGENT — 
POWERFUL PREACHING OF KNOX — THE MASSES EX- 
CITED TO DESTROY IMAGES AND MONASTERIES — WEST- 
ERN LEADERS INTERPOSE — CIVIL WAR — THE REGENT 
ACCEPTS TERMS OF PEACE — BUT IS UNFAITHFUL — 
KNOX'S WAR TRUMPET — SCOTLAND SEEKS HELP OF 
QUEEN ELIZABETH — PROTESTANTS DRIVEN FROM EDIN- 
BURGH — DEATH OF HENRY II — FRANCIS II — KNOX AND 
CECIL'S CORRESPONDENCE — REVOLT AGAINST THE RE- 
GENT — FRENCH TROOPS HOLD LEITH ELIZABETH SENDS 

A FLEET TO LEITH — ARRIVAL OF WINTER — DEATH OF 
THE REGENT. 

T ANDING at Leith, Knox hastened on to 
•* — 4 Edinburgh and stopping there only for a 
day, he passed to Dundee, where he found a 
body of Protestants ready to attend their minis- 
ters' trial. They rejoiced to see him and wel- 
comed him to accompany them to Stirling. How- 
ever, not to alarm the regent with the coming 
of so large a company, they stopped at Perth, 
and sent word of their peaceable intent. She 



The Scottish Reformation. 137 

immediately induced Erskine to write to them to 
desist from the journey, and she would have the 
trial dispensed with. This was accepted cheer- 
fully, and they dispersed to their homes. But 
when the day of trial came, the summons was 
issued by her order, and the accused minis- 
ters were condemned for not appearing, and 
sentence of outlawry was pronounced upon them, 
and all persons were forbidden to harbor or 
assist them. The day that Erskine brought this 
news to Perth, Knox, who was waiting there, 
preached a powerful sermon against the idolatry 
of the mass and of images. At the close of the 
sermon, while a number of persons were still in 
the church, a priest, to show his contempt of the 
sermon, uncovered an altarpiece, decorated with 
images, and proceeded to perform the mass. A 
boy, standing near, uttered some resentful cry, 
when the priest struck him, whereat he picked 
up a stone and let drive at the priest, but missed 
him and smashed one of the images. Immediately 
the people present took part with the boy, and 
in a few minutes the altar was overthrown, the 



138 John Knox. 

images broken and the ornaments of the church 
torn down and trampled upon. The mob out- 
side were attracted by the noise and crowded 
into the church, and seeing what was done there 
they caught the madness of the hour and rushed 
to the monasteries of the friars and the Carthusian 
monks, and burnt and destroyed them. The min- 
isters and magistrates strove to prevent this 
mischief, but in vain. It was felt by Knox as 
damaging to the cause of the Reformation. "It 
was the work," he said, "of the rascal multitude 
who cared nothing for religion." 

The queen regent seized upon this riot as a 
means of turning the indignation of the people 
against the Reformers. She called about her an 
armed force, and advanced toward Perth, threat- 
ening to "rase it to the ground and sow it with 
salt as a monument of perpetual desolation." 
The congregation of the Reformers wrote to the 
queen regent, disclaiming all participation in 
the riotous proceedings, and protesting their loy- 
alty to the government and tolerance of all who 
differed with them in religion. They did not 



The Scottish Reformation. 139 

rest here, but armed themselves to protect their 
lives and to defend the city. The towns about 
that region were roused in their favor. Glasgow, 
Kyle, Cunningham, Fife, Angus, and Dundee 
sent out armed bands to support their brethren, 
until an army of defense was formed of two 
thousand and five hundred men all well armed. 
The regent was dismayed at this formidable as- 
pect of the rebellion, and sent Argyle and Lord 
James Stuart to negotiate with the Reformers. 
But the terms she proposed were not acceptable. 
Knox boldly said to the deputies, that if the 
queen regent desired peace she must abandon 
her perscriptive measures and repent of her sins. 
He also remonstrated with Argyle and Lord 
James, who professed to be Protestants, for siding 
with the regent, and violating the covenant they 
had solemnly made with the brethren of the 
congregation. 

Argyle reported faithfully to the queen regent 
the number and strength of the Reformers and 
their determination to ' * fight for Christ and the 
Gospel sword in hand." He advised her to 



140 John Knox. 

make peace at once on the . following terms : 
Both armies to disperse and the gates of Perth 
be thrown open to her; no person to be molested 
for participation in the religious revolution • no 
■French garrison should occupy the town, and 
no Frenchmen to approach within three miles of 
it; and all matters in controversy should be re- 
served for the meeting of Parliament. She gave 
her assent to this pacification, and it was cheer- 
fully adopted by the Protestants. Knox expressed 
to Argyle and Lord James his distrust of the 
queen regent; but they assured him of thejr in- 
dorsement of her integrity and good faith, and 
"if she proved false to her word, they called 
God to witness, that they would desert her and 
join the western leaders." Knox yielded, but 
with misgivings of the sincerity of the regent, 
which he expressed openly from the pulpit. God 
had prevented bloodshed, but let no one be too 
confident, for "he was certain the treaty would 
be kept only till the regent and her Frenchmen 
felt strong enough to break it." His predictions 
came true very soon. For as soon as the regent 



The Scottish Reformation. 141 

found herself in possession of the town, she 
* ' broke every article of the treaty ; fined some 
of the inhabitants, banished others, introduced 
French troops into the city, and when departing 
for Stirling left orders that the Romish worship 
alone should be permitted within the walls of 
Perth." 

Civil war was now begun. Argyle and Lord 
James Stuart were true to their promise, and 
deserted the regent, and with other nobles, John 
Knox, and the leaders of the congregation assem- 
bled at St. Andrews. The regent marched with 
her forces, made up in large part of French 
troops, toward Falkland; but the congregation 
was joined by crowds of volunteers from all the 
towns, and presented an opposing front far out- 
numbering her army. 

On the 4th of June, the lords of the congre- 
gation were at St. Andrews; the archbishop, with 
a troop of two hundred men, hastened to sur- 
prise and capture them, but he found the town 
was strongly guarded and defended, and he 
turned back. Knox was present on the Sunday 



142 John Knox. 

following and preached. The archbishop left a 
warning that if he presumed to preach from his 
pulpit "a dozen bullets should light on his nose." 
The lords in council advised Knox not to preach 
lest his life should be the forfeit. But Knox 
remembered the prophecy that came to him in 
the French galley when he came in sight of the 
place, and he determined to fulfill it at every 
hazard. "As for the fear of danger that may 
come to me," he said, with an enthusiasm that 
seemed inspired, "let no man be anxious, for my 
life is in the hands of Hitn whose glory I seek ; 
I desire the hand nor weapon of no man to defend 
me, I only crave an audience ; which if it be de- 
nied here unto me at this time, I must seek 
where I may have it." 

It was this boldness which saved the Reforma- 
tion; it took with the masses, they were made 
strong to stand by their convictions, and it was the 
conversion of the common people of Scotland to 
the new faith that supplied the cause with horses, 
with men and money, and gave it a final and 
complete victory. The discourse of Knox at this 



The Scottish Reformation. 143 

time was on the Savior's driving the buyers and 
sellers from the temple of Jerusalem, and he ap- 
plied it to the duty of the people of Scotland to 
expel from the Church the corruptions and her- 
esies of Popery. He preached in the same strain 
for three successive days. The heart of the peo- 
ple was fired ; the monasteries were destroyed, 
the images and pictures were cast out of the 
church, and the rulers joined with the people 
to establish the reformed worship in the town. 
The example was contagious, and the same 
scenes were enacted at Crail, at Cupar, at Lin- 
dores, at Stirling, at Linlithgow and at Edin- 
burgh. The revolution was now hopeful, not 
from the influence of the great and mighty, but 
by the Spirit of God interesting the masses in 
restoring original Scriptural Christianity. Many 
may regret the waste of property and the destruc- 
tion of works of art, which have excited the ad- 
miration of every age. But these noble structures 
were associated with a glaring and superstitious 
religion, a poor travesty on the religion of the Gos- 
pel. They were structures too. of no use, but 



144 John Knox. 

a hinderance to the simple spiritual Gospel of 
salvation. At this day the vaunted Gothic arch- 
itecture is proved to be unfit for the preaching of 
the Gospel, and is giving way to the Oratorio 
style, which gives the largest assembly the best 
possible opportunity to behold and hear the 
preachers of the Gospel, and for the laymen of 
the Church and congregation to come forward 
and join in the services around the pulpits. If 
all the churches built in mediaeval style through- 
out the Protestant world were burnt up, it would 
be a signal blessing to the cause of popular re- 
ligion. As to monasteries the whole story is told 
by the pithy saying of Knox: "that the best way 
to keep the rooks from returning, was to pull 
down their nests." 

The queen regent marched to Couper Muir 
to meet the forces of the congregation, confident 
that she should crush them ; but the country was 
up in arms. "Men," said Knox, "seemed to rain 
from the clouds." They were all of one heart, 
and of one mind, while the army of the re- 
gent were without enthusiasm and disaffected on 



The Scottish Reformation. 145 

account of not receiving their pay. The officers 
advised her to forbear fighting, and negotiate 
terms of reconciliation. She agreed to ' ' remove 
her troops out of Fife, and send commissioners to 
settle matters with the congregation." The con- 
gregation accepted the armistice on these terms; 
but Mary proved false again. The army of the 
people being dispersed, she neglected to send 
peace-makers to the congregation, and gave rea- 
son to the lords to suspect that she had a design 
to seize Stirling, and so cut off their communica- 
tion with the Reformers in the South. 

The lords seeing this, marched at once to 
Perth, and captured the garrison ; then- they took 
possession of Stirling, and, after that, passed on 
to Edinburgh. Every-where the people and the 
army made havoc of the monasteries and abbeys 
and insignia of Popery. ' ' They pulled down," 
said Sir Henry Percy, " all manner of friars' 
houses and some abbeys which will not receive 
the Reformation. As to parish churches, they 
cleanse them of images and all other monuments 
of idolatry, and command that no masses be said 



146 



John Knox. 



in them; in place thereof, the book set first by 
godly King Edward is read in the same churches. 
They have never as yet meddled with a penny- 
worth of that which pertains to the kirk; but 
presently they will take orders through all the 
parts where they dwell, that all the fruits of the 
abbeys and other churches shall be kept, and be- 
stowed upon the faithful ministers, until such time 
as other orders be taken. Some suppose the 
queen, seeing no other remedy, will follow their 
desire — which is that a general reformation be 
made throughout the realm, conformable to the 
pure wish of God, and the Frenchmen sent away. 
If her grace will do so, they will obey and serve 
her, and annex the whole revenues of the abbeys 
to the crown. If her grace will not be content, 
they will hear of no agreement. " But the event 
shows that the queen had no notion of favoring 
the Reformation, but the contrary of doing all in 
her power to suppress it. So concluded Knox and 
the leaders of the congregation, and they saw not 
how they were to protect themselves but by the 
help of England. Knox addressed a letter to Ce- 



The Scottish Reformation. 147 , 

cil, the secretary of Queen Elizabeth, in which he 
apologized for his "blast" against female sover- 
eignty as not being applicable to her, and pleaded 
that "a perpetual concord between England 
and Scotland" would make "the happiest pros- 
pect for both realms." Cecil wrote to one of 
the leaders of the Reformation, giving encour- 
agement to hope that the queen would come 
to their help. He said that he had received 
news that the French forces were coming; but, 
added he, "let not the Scots be cast down, for 
England neither might nor would see their ruin. 

In any wise kindle the fire, for if it 
shall quench, the opportunity thereof will not ar- 
rive in our lives; and that which the Protestants 
mean to do should be done with all speed; for it 
will be too late when the French force cometh." 
The lords of the congregation, James Stuart, Ar- 
gyle, Glencairn, Ruthven, Boyd, and Ochiltree, 
signed an urgent address to Elizabeth and to Cecil, 
and "declared that for the joyful junction of the 
.two realms they would never cease to pray." 

Matters being in this state, the king of France, 
10 



148 John Knox. 

Henry II, was killed at a tournament given in 
honor of his daughter's marriage to Philip of 
Spain, and his son, the husband of Mary Stuart, 
the young Queen of Scots, ascended the throne, 
with the title of Francis II. This event inspired 
still larger expectations of the interference of 
France against the Reformation in Scotland. 
"The present king," wrote De Quadner, the 
Spanish embassador in England, to his sovereign, 
Philip II, "will go forward with the enterprise 
more eagerly than his father; the army for Scot- 
land is ready." The forces of the queen regent 
under D'Oysel, about this time, were gaining great 
victories; they had repelled an attack of the 
Protestants in Dunbar, after several weeks' fight- 
ing, and had marched to Leith, and captured it. 
Erskine, the governor of the Castle of Edinburgh, 
declared for the queen, and the Protestants" were 
induced to make a treaty of peace, in which they 
agreed to destroy no more churches or monaster- 
ies till the next Parliament, to evacuate Edin- 
burgh, and leave Holyrood for the queen. On 
her part the regent agreed to dismiss the French 



The Scottish Reformation. 149 

troops, and to extend to Protestants toleration for 
their religion, and a free pardon for their rebellion. 
It was clear enough that there was a lack of abil- 
ity in the managers of the Reformation. This 
was the conviction of Elizabeth's Council. Cecil 
complained that they looked to England for help 
against the French, while they neglected the de- 
fenses of their own harbors. It was "a serious 
thing " that a force of three thousand Frenchmen 
were coming as the first installment of war from 
one of the great nations of the age. He knew 
that to make England and Scotland one isle was 
the great desideratum; but the Scotch must chiefly 
help themselves. So much for the good sec- 
retary. The queen, no doubt, endured their 
ideas, but as to helping, she was not to be trusted; 
her caprice was infinite, as Scotland found out to 
her cost before her death. She ever" carried a 
Janus face, and to lie was her habit, and her oath 
was no better than her word. One day she wrote 
to her ' ' dear sister and ally," the queen regent, 
that she had no connection with the rebels, but 
would ferret out and punish them of her own peo- 



150 John Knox. 

pie who took part with them. Yet the very next 
day she sent three thousand pounds to Sir Ralph 
Sadler at Berwick to distribute among "the 
rebels," and instructed him "to treat in all se- 
crecy with any manner of persons in Scotland for 
the union of the realms, and to foment as his 
principal scope discord between France and Scot- 
land, so that the French might be the better oc- 
cupied with them, and the less with England." 

Knox's bold and honest style, which made him 
the favorite champion of the Reformation in Scot- 
land, especially among the common people, did 
not take with Elizabeth. He wrote to her once 
more, and. again apologized for his " book," but 
said "bluntly that it did not touch her unless she 
deserved it." He charged her with shrinking 
from the contest for Christ in the hour of battle, 
" yet God had" preserved her when most unthank- 
ful, and had raised her up to be a comfort to his 
kirk. Interpret my rude words," he concluded, 
"as written by him who is no enemy to your 
grace. By divers letters I have required leave 
to visit your realm, not to seek myself, neither 



The Scottish Reformation. 151 

yet my own ease or commodity, which, if you now 
refuse or deny, I must remit myself to God, adding 
this for conclusion : that such as refuse the coun- 
sels of the faithful, appear it never so sharp, are 
compelled to follow the deceit of flatterers to their 
own perdition." 

Elizabeth was accustomed to plain talk from 
Cecil and other far-seeing and honest advisers in 
her court, and she did not take offense at it; but 
she would have her own way, and often, when 
she had taken it, she turned back, and took their 
way. She loved to show that she was sovereign. 
She had opinions of her own, which did not coin- 
cide with the manifest policy of her government. 
At heart she was no further a Protestant than her 
father, Henry VIII, who held the doctrines of 
Popery, but denied the supremacy of the Pope, 
and allowed the circulation of the Bible. He 
kept the wafer in a corner of his cabinet, and rev- 
erenced it as the ' ' blood, body, and divinity of 
the Lord Jesus Christ." 

About the time Elizabeth was sending these 
contradictory dispatches, the Protestant Earl of 



152 John Knox. 

Arran, whom Henry VIII had selected for the 
husband of Elizabeth, he being after Mary Stuart 
next heir to the English crown, and whom the 
popular voice in Scotland designated yet as her 
prospective husband and king of England, produced 
great excitement by his arrival at the court of 
Elizabeth and in Scotland. Cecil went to meet 
him, and entertained him at his house, where 
Elizabeth met him, and immediately settled the 
question in her own mind that he was not to be 
her husband. So this plan of linking the two 
realms was not to take effect. Sir Ralph Sadler 
and Sir James Croft were in constant correspond- 
ence with Knox and Balnaves as the medium of 
communication between the English court and the 
Reformers. Knox disliked to be so mixed up 
with politics, and he gladly availed himself of the 
accession of the younger Maitland to the party to 
resign to him his office. In one letter of this cor- 
respondence Knox was guilty of the only instance 
of dissimulation which could be charged upon his 
public life. England had made a treaty of peace 
with France; "but if ye list to craft with thame," 



The Scottish Reformation. 153 

wrote he to Sir James Croft, " the sending of a 
thousand or mo men to us can breake no league 
nor point of peace contracted betwixt you and 
France ; for it is free for your subjects to serve in 
warr anie prince or nation for their wages; and 
if yee fear that such excuses will not prevail, ye 
may declare thame rebels to your realme, when ye 
shall be assured that they be in our company." 
Croft reproved him ; yet this was the very sort of 
fraud that Elizabeth and Cecil were at that mo- 
ment practicing through Sadler and Croft as State 
agents, and it was her constant policy. She would 
fit out ships to prey upon the commerce of Spain 
while in league with that power, and when they 
were taken, she allowed the crew to be dealt 
with as pirates and her own enemies. The great 
Sir Francis Drake, in his voyage round the world, 
the first ever made, was no better than a pirate, 
and brought home to her millions of gold and 
silver and jewels, which he stole from Spanish 
ships and towns on the Pacific; and it was a 
wonder that she did not in the sequel allow him 
to be hanged as a pirate, only it was not expe- 



1 54 



John Knox. 



client ! But this does not exonerate Knox. It 
shows the depravity of the times, with which even 
good men were sometimes tainted. 

Knox seems not to have lost credit with his 
correspondents, for Cecil directed that he should 
be one of the committee to oversee the dispensing 
of the subsidy sent by Elizabeth. He did not 
like to participate in political maneuvers, and was 
glad enough to resign his post to Maitland. He 
incurred the hatred of the queen regent and her 
abettors for his preaching and active exertions in 
behalf of reform, and a price was set on his head; 
but it made no difference with his labors. His 
voice and pen were employed day and night, he 
itinerated constantly, and wherever he went he 
gave the trumpet no uncertain sound. " He 
was," says Dr. M'Crie, "the soul of the congre- 
gation, was always present at the post of danger, 
and by his presence, his public discourses, and 
private advices animated the whole body, and de- 
feated the schemes employed to corrupt and dis- 
unite them." He preached in Kelso, Jedburgh, 
Dumfries, Ayr, Stirling, Perth, Brechin, Montrose, 



The Scottish Reformation. 155 

and Dundee ; his letters were flying in every part. 
" 1 have been," he writes to a friend, "in con 
tinual travel since the day of my appointment; 
and, notwithstanding the fevers that vex me, yet 
have I traveled through the most part of this 
realm, where (all praise to his blessed Majesty !) 
men of all sorts embrace the truth. Enemies 
we have many, by reason of the Frenchmen lately 
arrived, of whom our Papists hope golden bills. ^ 
The subsidy of Elizabeth, and the non-arrival 
of the missing body of French troops, gave en- 
couragement to the lords of the congregation, and 
they, on consultation, signed a petition to the queen 
regent to disband her troops, and raise the siege 
of Leith. She haughtily rejected their petition. 
They thereupon debated the question of calling a 
convention to depose her. She received her au- 
thority as regent by order of Parliament; and, 
though a formal meeting of Parliament could not 
in the state of the country be possible, it was be- 
lieved that the people would justify an informal 
Parliament, and execute its decrees. The result 
of these deliberations was the calling of a meeting 



156 John Knox. 

of representatives of the boroughs, barons, and 
nobles at Edinburgh, on the 21st of October. 
Knox and Willock (who had taken Knox's place 
as minister of the Church in Edinburgh) were 
also summoned to give them counsel. The ques- 
tion presented was whether, if the regent refused 
to end the civil war, and comply with the petition 
to raise the siege of Leith, it would not be lawful 
and expedient to depose her. Willock being first 
invited to give his judgment on the question, he 
said that, in his opinion, both reason and Scriptures 
agreed in making limitations to the power and au- 
thority of rulers; that it might be taken from them 
in the interests of the people for good and suffi- 
cient reasons ; and that, as it regarded the regent, it 
was evident, by calling for foreign troops, and by 
the fortification of Leith, that she meant to oppress 
the people and enslave the country, and that it 
was therefore proper and right to deprive her of 
the authority she had abused. Knox agreed to 
this opinion, and that this assembly might make a 
decree accordingly, provided, first, that they did 
not suffer their hearts to be alienated from their 



The Scottish Reformation. 157 

lawful sovereigns, Francis and Mary; secondly, 
that they cherished no feeling of personal hostility 
to Mary; and, thirdly, that their action should not 
hereafter preclude her from readmission to the re- 
gency, provided she showed regret for her past mis- 
conduct and a disposition to hear to the advice of 
her legitimate counselors. After this each person 
composing the assembly expressed his opinion to 
the same effect, and a formal decree was passed, 
suspending the queen dowager from her office as 
regent of Scotland until the meeting of a free 
Parliament, and electing a council for the govern- 
ment of the country in the interim. They elected 
Chatelherault and other nobles and leaders of the 
Reformation to constitute the council. Thus was 
the revolution crystallized, and Scotland began 
the establishment of constitutional liberty. Other 
revolts against royal authority were by the aris- 
tocracy, jealous of their prerogatives, or provoked 
by some outrageous act of tyranny ; but this was 
of the nobles and people promiscuously. In other 
times it was a question of politics; but now it 
was both a political and religious question. 



158 John Knox. 

Knox's opinions on this subject were derived from 
original reflections on the Scriptures and history, 
which were illustrated and confirmed in his mind 
by what he saw in the Republic of Switzerland. 
He did not repudiate monarchy, but the divine 
right of kings to be kings, not their divine right to 
rule when properly recognized by the people as 
rulers, and when they exercised authority for the 
good of the people. It was religion which gave 
force and final success to this revolt against royal 
despotism. It was the want of the sustaining and 
regulating motives, inspired by true religion, 
which made the French revolution of the last 
century a failure. The religion of the country, 
debased as it was, was against the revolution, and 
it could not stand. In Mexico and in South 
America religion has been on the side of repub- 
licanism, and it has been sustained; but the re- 
ligion has been so defective and mixed with super- 
stition that it has not prevented continual revolts. 
The ambition of great generals has moved them 
to make " pronunciamentos " against the authori- 
ties, and the people and the army have not had 



The Scottish Reformation. 159 

virtue enough to refuse their support. Thus it is 
one revolution follows another. It was the Re- 
formed religion which gave courage for the rev- 
olution in Scotland and in England, and when 
achieved sustained it and brought it to its pres- 
ent happy consummation. 

The queen regent took no heed of the decrees 
of this extra-judicial Parliament, and the French 
troops still held Leith, and were every day on the 
look- out for the fleet that was to bring the main 
army. Preparations were now made for an as- 
sault upon Leith; the scaling ladders were too 
short, and much to the religious horror of Knox, 
the church of St. Giles was made use of to en- 
large the ladders. Maitland was dispatched to 
the court of Elizabeth to urge her to send troops as 
well as money to their aid. Elizabeth began to 
yield, for the occupation of Scotland by a French 
army boded no good to England. At a tourna- 
ment at Greenwich, where Noailles, the French 
embassador, was sitting near the queen, she asked 
him abruptly: 

"What news from Scotland ?" 



160 John Knox. 

He replied, " An army is coming to put down 
rebellion in Scotland." 

"Look to your own affairs," she said, "and I 
shall look to mine; the troops already at Leith 
are a match for the Scots; those armies and fleets 
of yours in Normandy are not meant for Scot- 
land only." 

Noailles replied "that his king would always 
observe his treaties." "It may be so," said the 
queen, "but there is no harm in being prepared; 
you will then be less tempted to meddle with us." 

This revealed her new position on Scottish 
affairs; the appeals of the lords of the congrega- 
tion and the aspect of affairs had moved her to 
do something more than to send money secretly 
to the Reformers. Her ships were got ready for 
action, the Isle of Wight was garrisoned, and a 
force of two thousand men were sent down to Ber- 
wick, the border town, under Lord Grey. Cecil 
persuaded Elizabeth to send four thousand pounds 
sterling to Berwick designed for the Scots. But 
Ormiston, the messenger, was waylaid by the Earl 
of Bothwell, and the treasure was captured. 



The Scottish Reformation. 161 



Meanwhile the council of the Reformers was* 
divided, one-half remaining at Glasgow, and one- 
half going to St. Andrews. The Earl of Arran, 
whose presence in the country was before men- 
tioned, was now at the head of a small band of 
patriots opposing the progress of the French. 
Knox was in the camp, and exerted himself to 
sustain the spirits of the troops in hopes of the 
coming of the English fleet. On the 27th of 
February, 1560, the lords concluded a treaty with 
Elizabeth, and in a month her army of relief 
crossed the border, and the French forces re- 
tired before the combined forces of Scotch and 
English, and withdrew within the fortifications 
of Leith. 

Cecil's advice was now fully adopted by Eliz- 
abeth, but not until he found his remonstrances 
against her indecison to be in vain and he had 
offered his resignation. ' ' With a sorrowful 
heart," wrote the earnest and faithful secretary, 
"I, your poor servant and most lowly subject 
and unworthy secretary, beseech your majesty to 
pardon this my lowly suit, that, considering the 



162 John Knox. 

proceedings in this matter for running the French 
out of Scotland, doth not content your majesty, 
and that I can not with my conscience give any 
contrary advice, I may, with your majesty's 
favor and clemency be spared to intermeddle 
therein." After some hesitation Elizabeth sided 
with Cecil, and war was begun. 

Sir William Winter with a fleet of fourteen 
vessels, sailed with orders to proceed to the Forth 
and watch for the French fleet. "He might 
provoke a quarrel if he did not find one, and 
sink and destroy any vessel which attacked him; 
but if challenged, to say that he acted on his own 
responsibility and not profess that he had the 
queen's commission." That is, the commander of 
an English squadron was to behave like a buc- 
caneer and a pirate. The Duke of Norfolk w;ts 
made general-in-chief of the army, and sent to 
Berwick to wait orders. Winter reached Leith 
after having weathered a terrible storm and an- 
chored before the fort, on which the French flag 
was flying. Agreeable to his ambiguous orders, 
he lay still until a shot was fired ill to his vessel. 



The Scottish Reformation. 163 

when a broadside was instantly returned, the 
fortress taken and blown up, and all the vessels 
in the harbor were captured. The French troops 
fled, first to Stirling, and afterward quietly re- 
turned to Leith. The regent sent word to Winter 
to know by whose order he was making war on 
her. He replied that he was sent to sea to search 
for pirates, and had entered the Forth to watch for 
them. And thus the affair stood until Elizabeth 
signed the treaty of alliance with the lords of the 
congregation and orders were given to her troops 
to march under Lord Grey, as before related. 

It was now determined to besiege Leith by the 
united force of the Scotch and English troops, and 
by the whole power of the fleet. The guns of the 
French in the fort were soon disabled; but they 
made a furious sortie upon the English trenches, 
broke into the camp, seized and spiked the 
cannon, and made good their retreat within the 
defenses of Leith. But the main body of the 
English having arrived, on the next day, the 16th 
of April, the siege was renewed with greater 
vigor, and was pushed from day to day for a 



164 John Knox. 

fortnight. On the evening of the 30th, Lord Grey- 
wrote to Norfolk that Leith was on fire and a third 
part of it was burnt already, and "yet it burns — 
yet, yet!" A general assault of the frowning and 
terrible walls was finally determined for the 6th 
of May; but it failed, with the loss of eight hun- 
dred of the bravest troops and a large number 
of officers. Mary, the queen regent, was in the 
castle and sick; but she was carried to the walls 
upon a couch and witnessed the dreadful fight 
with eyes that were soon to close on all earthly 
things. 

The defeat of the English troops only roused 
Elizabeth, under the earnest advice of Cecil, to 
make greater exertions. Norfolk sent over two 
thousand more men for Berwick, and orders were 
given to spare no expense of men or money or 
artillery. 

On the 17th of May the queen regent wrote in 
cipher on her handkerchief to D'Oysel, command- 
ing the fort, to inquire how long he could hold 
out. But this failed to reach its destination. 
Another letter was sent to a physician in Leith, 



The Scottish Reformation. 165 

written in chemical characters. It fell into the 
hands of Lord Grey, who held it to the fire, and 
read it. "Tell your mistress/' he said to the 
messenger, "I will keep her counsel, but that 
such wares will not sell till a new market. " On 
the 8th of June, Mary of Guise lay on her dying* 
bed, while the siege was still going on. Thinking 
her end near, a tender and penitent feeling came 
over her. She sent for Chatelherault and Lord 
James Stuart, and told them "she was sorry for 
Scotland and for her own share in Scotland's suf- 
ferings." She asked their forgiveness. Willock 
was sent for, with her permission, and she listened 
with respectful attention to the pious advice of the 
good minister. Afterwards she sent for the Rom- 
ish priest, and received the sacrament at his 
hands. Her corpse lay in state in the castle, and 
all suitable ceremonies attended its transportal to 
France for burial. 

Nine days after her death a conference of the 
belligerents was held, and resulted in an armistice 
of a week. How easily the soldiers of contend- 
ing armies forget all their hostility when the war 



166 John Knox. 

is suspended ! A picnic was held by the French 
and English officers on " Leith sands, each bring- 
ing with him such victuals as he had in store. 
From Grey's camp, hams, capons, chickens, wine, 
and beer. The French produced a solitary fowl, 
a piece of baked horse, and six delicately roasted 
rats — the last was the last fresh meat they had in 
town; but of this they said they had abundance!" 

All parties were now for peace. The embassa- 
dors of the French government agreed to a treaty, 
by which it was provided that the French troops 
should withdraw from Scotland, pardon for all 
engaged in the war against the regent, their 
wrongs should be redressed, and all matters in 
dispute be settled by a free and legal Parliament. 
Furthermore, it was agreed to satisfy Elizabeth 
for her expenditures in the war; that the Queen 
of Scots should renounce all claim on the crown 
of England, and that the right of the English to 
Calais should be submitted to the arbitration of 
Spain. 

This treaty, though no reference was formally 
made to religion, did in effect establish the Prot- 



The Scottish Reformation. 167 



estant religion as the religion of Scotland. The 
people preferred it when let alone by the Papal 
hierarchy and the civil rulers. "Popery was sup- 
ported," says M'Crie, "by force alone; and the 
moment the French troops embarked, this fabric 
which had stood for ages in Scotland fell to the 
ground. Its feeble and dismayed priests ceased 
of their own accord from the celebration of its 
rites, and the Reformed service was peaceably set 
up wherever ministers could be found to perform 
it. The Parliament, when it met, had little else 
to do respecting religion than to sanction what the 
nation had previously adopted." 

It was the blood of the martyrs and the preach- 
ing of Knox and his coadjutors that brought about 
this national revolution. 



i68 



John Knox. 



dljkptef VIII. 



TREATY OF PEACE — FIRST PARLIAMENT — REFORMED RELIG- 
ION MADE NATIONAL — ARTICLES OF RELIGION — BOOK 
OF DISCIPLINE. 

r I ^HE treaty of peace, without formal declara- 



tion, did in effect leave the Reformed 
Church the Church of Scotland. Knox resumed 
his position as minister at Edinburgh, and em- 
ployed himself in preparing a confession of faith, 
for the acceptance of Parliament. On the ist ot 
August, 1560, the Parliament assembled. All 
parts of the country were represented, and one 
visitor from Ireland was among them. Though 
no less than a chieftain at home, he was no better 
than a wild Comanche from our Western wilds, 
nor were the people of Ireland at this date much 
superior to our untamed Aborigines. " His diet," 
wrote Randolph, the English embassador, "by 
reason of the length of the journey, so failed him 




The Scottish Reformation. 169 

that he was fain to leave his saffran shirt in gage. 
The rest of his apparel is such that the Earl of 
Argyle, before he would give him audience, ar- 
rayed him from the neck downwards. Cap he 
would have none. Tall, gaunt, and shaggy, with 
his glyb shading his eyes, he lodged in the chim- 
ney; his drink, aqua vitae and milk." The first 
thing to attend to was the formal institution or 
confirmation of religion, for which many petitions 
were presented by parties opposed to the Roman 
faith. The "Confession of Faith," by Knox, was 
laid before them and discussed. It was similar to 
the creeds of the Reformed Churches on the Con- 
tinent. It is remarkable that the prelates of the 
Roman faith, who were present, made no objec- 
tion to it. Some of the nobility, however, ob- 
jected to it, but others enthusiastically declared 
they would shed their blood for it. When the 
aged Lord Lindsay announced his vote in the 
affirmative, he said: "I have lived many years. 
I am the oldest of the company of my sort. Now 
that it hath pleased God to let me see this day, 
when so many nobles and others have allowed so 



170 



John Knox. 



worthy a book, I will say with Simeon, Nunc 
dimittis, Domine." The creed embraced twenty- 
five articles : 

1. Trinity in unity. 

2. Fall of man from original holiness. 

3. Total depravity requiring regeneration. 

4. The promise of the Savior Jesus Christ. 

5. The Church of God established in the beginning, and 

preserved until the advent of Christ. 

6. The incarnation of the eternal Son of God. 

7. The union of the divine and human natures in Christ 

was eternally decreed for our salvation. 

8. The saved were elected before the foundation of the 

world. 

9. Christ was made by his suffering and death the real 

and the only sacrifice for sin. 

10. Christ's resurrection, after his death and descent into 

hell, was attested by the resurrection^ of the saints, 
and was testified toby angels and the apostles as eye- 
witnesses. 

11. Christ ascended to heaven to be enthroned as our me- 

diator and advocate, until he shall come again for 
final judgment and restitution of all things. 

12. The Holy Ghost inspires our faith, and sanctifies and 

regenerates without respect to our merit. 

13. The cause of good works is not our free will; but by 

the Spirit of the Lord Jesus dwelling in our hearts 
by faith, and causing us to struggle against deprav- 
ity, and finally to persevere and overcome it. 



The Scottish Reformation. 171 



14. Good works are those required of us by the Command- 

ments of God, and not by the "invention of man." 

15. God's law is perfect, but we are sinners even after re- 

generation, and our works are accepted only through 
Christ ; and we can do no works of supererogation in 
which we can trust. 

16. The Church is one in all ages, composed of the elect 

saints, whether Jews or Gentiles, and is visible only 
to God, and saved only through Christ. 

17. The soul is immortal ; the elect do not sleep at death, 

but are happy*; the reprobate and unfaithful are in 
inexpressible pain and torment. 

18. The signs of the true Church are: first, the true 

preaching of the Word of God; second, the right 
administration of the sacraments; third, ecclesias- 
tical discipline administered according to God's 
Word. 

19. To allege that the Scriptures have no other authority 

than is received from the Church is blasphemy and 
an injury to the Church of God. 

20. General Councils are of no authority, except as their 

decrees are in accordance with the Holy Scriptures. 

21. There are now only two sacraments — baptism and the 

Lord's-supper. These are not mere signs; but by 
baptism we are grafted into Christ, and by the 
sacrament, rightly used, Christ is joined with us, so 
as to become mysteriously the food of our souls. 
Transubstantiation is "perniciously taught, and 
damnably believed;" yet the elements are to be 
used with all reverence. 



172 



John Knox. 



22. The right administration of the sacrament requires: 

first, That they be ministered by lawful ministers, 
appointed by some Church ; and second, That the 
elements be such as God has appointed. Hence the 
Papistical Church is repudiated, " because their min- 
isters are no ministers of Jesus Christ; yea, what is 
more horrible, they suffer women, whom the Holy 
Ghost will not suffer to teach in the congregation, 
to baptize ;" and also they use "oil, salt, spittle, and 
such like in baptism," and practice "adoration," 
bearing the host through the streets, -and keeping the 
bread in boxes — all of which are profanation. 

23. Baptism appertaineth to the infants of the faithful, 

but the supper of the Lord only to those who have 
faith in Christ and obey his word. 

24. That civil government is ordained of God, and civil 

rulers are " lieutenants of God." It is their duty to 
attend to the reformation and purgation of religion, 
and to suppress idolatry and superstition. 

25. The gifts to the true members of Christ's Church are : 

first, In this life, remission of sins; second, "The 
resurrection of the flesh" and eternal glory; while 
the reprobate and the wicked shall be tormented 
forever in their bodies and in their souls. 

In Knox's "History of the Reformation," he 

says : 

"This, our Confession, was publicly read, first 
in audience of the lords of the articles, and after- 



The Scottish Reformation. 173 

wards in the audience of the whole Parliament, 
where were present not only such as professed 
Jesus Christ, but also a great number of the ad- 
versaries of our religion, who were commanded, in 
God's name, to object, if they could say any thing 
against that doctrine. Some of our ministers were 
present, standing upon their feet, ready to have 
answered, in case any should have defended Pa- 
pistry and impugned our affirmatives; but, when 
no objection was made, there was a day ap- 
pointed for concurrence, both in that and other 
heads. 

"Our Confession was read, every article by 
itself, over again, as they were written in order, 
and the vote of every man was required accord- 
ingly. Of the temporal estate, only the Earl of 
Altrol, the Lords Somerrel and Bosthwick gave, 
their votes on the contrary ; and yet, for their dis- 
senting, they produced no better reason but, ' We 
will believe as our fathers believed. ' The bish- 
ops — the Papalistical we mean — said nothing. 
The rest of the whole three estates, by their pub- 
lic votes, affirmed the doctrine; and the rather, 



174 



John Knox. 



because that the Papalistical bishops fain would, 
but durst say nothing to the contrary. 

['This was the vote of Earl Marshall: 1 It is 
long since I have had some favor unto the truth, 
and since that I have had a suspicion of the Pa- 
palistical religion, but I praise my God who hath 
this day fully resolved me in the one and the 
other. For, seeing that the bishops, who for their 
learning can, and for their zeal that they bear to 
the verity would, as I suppose, have gainsaid 
any thing that directly repugneth to the verity of 
God — seeing, as I say, the bishops here present 
speak nothing to the contrary of the doctrine pro- 
posed, I can not but hold it for the very truth of 
God, and the contrary to be deceivable doctrine. 
And therefore, so far as in me lieth, I approve 
the one and contemn the other, and do further 
ask of God that not only I, but all my posterity, 
may enjoy the comfort of the doctrine that this 
day our ears have heard. And yet more I must 
vote, as it were by way of protestation that if any 
persons ecclesiastical shall after this oppose them- 
selves to this one Confession, that they have no 



The Scottish Reformation. 175 

peace nor credit. Considering that they, having 
long advertisement and full knowledge of this, 
our Confession, none is now found in lawful, free, 
and quiet Parliament to oppose themselves to that 
which we profess. And therefore, if any of this 
generation pretend to do it after this, I protest 
that he be reputed rather one that loveth his own 
advantage and the glory of the world than the 
truth of God and the salvation of men's souls.' 

' ' After the voting and ratification of this, our 
Confession, by the whole body of the Parliament, 
then were also pronounced two acts — the one 
against the mass and the abuse of the sacraments, 
and the other against the supremacy of the Pope." 
(Knox's History, Vol. III.) 

As to the order and discipline of the Church, 
the reformed Churches of Scotland had followed 
the Book of Common Order of the Geneva Church; 
but this was contrived for a single congregation, 
and something different was deemed necessary* for 
an association of Churches. Knox preached a 
series of sermons on the nature and importance 
of Church discipline. He brought his plan to the 



176 John Knox. 

attention of Parliament, but it was not entirely 
satisfactory. Finally the privy council chose 
Knox and five other ministers to digest and 
present a scheme in accordance with Scripture 
and adapted to the state of things in Scotland. 
This order resulted in a book called subsequently 
the " First Book of Discipline." 

The permanent officers of the Church were of 
four classes: pastors to preach and administer the 
sacrament; doctors to interpret the Scriptures, to 
refute errors and to teach theology in the schools 
and universities; the ruling elders to assist the 
pastors in exercising discipline; deacons to have 
charge of the revenues and the care of the poor.. 
Besides these there were to be readers and ex- 
horters to hold meetings in places where there 
were no pastors; and superintendents whose 
office was to travel among the Churches, to 
oversee the work and to plant new Churches. 
These officers were to be chosen by the people. 
There was to be a service weekly of the pastors, 
elders, and deacons of each Church ; twice a year 
a synod, consisting of the elders of the district 



The Scottish Reformation. 177 

presided over by a superintendent; and three 
times yearly a general assembly of ministers and 
elders from the different Churches throughout 
the nation. 

There were to be two services of public wor- 
ship on the Sabbath, conducted very nearly ac- 
cording to the forms of the English Church in 
Geneva. In the afternoon catechising was sub- 4 
stituted for the sermon. A sermon was to be 
delivered one day in week-time in large towns. 
Baptism was accompanied with preaching and 
catechising. The sacrament was to be adminis- 
tered quarterly. The sign of the cross in bap- 
tism and kneeling at the Lord's-table were dis- 
carded as Popish inventions. 

Education was to be provided by common 
schools in every parish, a grammar-school in 
every large town, and liberal endowments were to 
be made for the universities. The support of 
the ministers and of the schools was to be de- 
rived from the revenues of the old Church. The 
minister's allowance was ' ' forty bolls of meat 
and twenty-six bolls of malt," and the superin- 



178 John Knox. 

tendents were to have an addition to this for 
traveling expenses. 

The privy council did not at first approve of 
tins scheme, partly because of its strict discipline, 
and partly because they did not like the appropri- 
ations of Church revenues to its maintenance. 
Some of the lords had already seized on the Church 
lands, and others were hoping to get possession 
of them; nevertheless the majority subscribed to 
it, and it was heartily indorsed by the people at 
large. 

The first general assembly met at Edinburgh 
on the 20th of December, 1560, consisting of 
forty members, of whom but six were pastors. 
Knox was one of the ministers present. No 
moderator was chosen at their first meetings; 
but after several sessions held in that way, rules 
of order were adopted and a moderator was 
chosen at each meeting to give direction and to 
maintain order. 



The Scottish Reformation. 179 



Copter- IX. 



DEATH OF MRS. KNOX — MARY AND FRANCIS II REFUSE TO 
RATIFY THE TREATY OF PEACE — DEATH OF FRANCIS 
II— RETURN OF MARY TO SCOTLAND. 



HE year which in December crowned with 



success the efforts of Knox and his co- 
adjutors, by the establishment and recognition 
of the Reformed Church as the national Church 
of Scotland, was clouded and saddened at the 
close by the decease of the pious and ami- 
able wife of Knox. The ways of God are no- 
where more mysterious than in the death of 
mothers. This lady, who had experienced the 
perils of a profession of the new faith in the reign 
of cruel Mary, and shared the privations of her 
husband in his flight to Switzerland, after she had 
found peace with him in a quiet and permanent 
home in Edinburgh, was called to part with him 
and her two young children and aged mother. 




12 



180 John Knox. 

Calvin wrote to his friend a letter full of Chris- 
tian sympathy and condolence; he had a high 
appreciation of her worth and mourned her loss. 
Mrs. Bowes, her mother, was broken in health, 
and the death of her daughter increased the de- 
jection to which she was subject, and which was 
relieved only by the consolations of religion and 
the hope of immortality. This domestic sorrow 
was added to the concern he felt for the nation. 

A storm cloud was now rising over the land 
by the way of France. Mary, daughter of James 
V, was now queen also of France as the wife of 
Francis II, and they had refused to ratify the 
treaty of peace, and expressed their dissatisfaction 
with the doings of Parliament by dismissing their 
deputy with terms of some reprehension. The 
war was not over, fresh armies were being 
enlisted and agents were sent to stir up the feel- 
ing of disaffection among the Roman Catholics. 
They had made but little effort during the war to 
counteract the Reformation, except for the brief 
period when they tried to excite the people by 
pretended miracles wrought at the shrines of their 



The Scotish Reformation. 181 



dead saints. They were looking for the French 
army to conquer the Reformers, and when defeat 
came instead of victory, they gave up in despair. 
As we have seen, their prelates in Parliament did 
not raise a voice against the doctrine of the new 
confession of faith, and the ceremonies of the 
Papal Church were discontinued by common con- 
sent. The young monarchs were not' in a con- 
dition to realize this, and the prosecution of the 
war was deemed good policy, in hope of large 
sympathy and co-operation on the part of the Cath- 
olic party. As to Queen Elizabeth, she was not 
pleased with the doctrine and discipline of the 
new Church of Scotland, and her disposition to 
marry Arran was in no wise increased by the 
new posture of affairs. In September, of 1560, 
the Parliament had sent an address on the sub- 
ject to Elizabeth by the Earls of Morton and 
Glencairn. But the queen was too much in love 
with Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, to think 
seriously of a matter of even such great impor- 
tance as to prepare for the union of the two 
realms. Francis II died December 6th, and she 



1 82 John Knox. 

was so relieved of the prospect of French occupa- 
tion of Scotland, that she concluded to decline the 
Scottish marriage. She told the embassador that 
she ' ' was not inclined to marry, though she might 
perhaps change her mind" (this was a thing she was 
always doing on more subjects than one,) " but she 
begged the earl to consider himself at liberty to 
make any alliance which might suit his fancy." 

The death of Francis II dispelled the cloud of 
war, and relieved at once the fears of the Re- 
formers. It was regarded as a special providence 
of God. "When all things," said Knox, "were in 
readiness to shed the blood of innocent, the Eter- 
nal, our God, who ever watched for the preserva- 
tion of his own, began to work, and suddenly 
did he put his work into execution. For, as the 
king sat at mass, he was struck with an apos- 
thume in that deaf ear which would never hear 
the truth of God, when his glory perished, and 
the pride of his stubborn heart vanished in 
smoke." 

Though the prospect of war was over, another 
form of danger arose. In consequence of the 



The Scottish Reformation. 183 

death of Francis II, Mary was to return to 
Scotland. . The Parliament and the young queen 
came to this conclusion at the same "time. Par- 
liament, on the 1 6th of January, 1561, deputized 
the natural brother of the queen, Lord James 
Stuart, to carry to her an invitation to come to 
Scotland; and before he started on the errand, 
commissioners arrived from the queen, stating her 
intention to "return home." On the part of 
Parliament it was stipulated that Romanism was 
not to be restored, though she might be at liberty 
to perform its rites in private. On her part she 
promised a general amnesty to all offenders, and 
in private letters to almost all the leading Reform- 
ers she not only promised forgiveness for the past, 
but to continue them in office if faithful. She 
stated that she had received proposals of marriage 
from Spain, Sweden, and Denmark, but she would 
decide nothing without consultation with the no- 
bles. Knox and some of the leaders of the Ref- 
ormation had turned their attention to Arran as 
the most suitable person for Mary to marry. 

Application was made to Queen Elizabeth by 



184 John Knox. 

Mary for permission to return to Scotland by the 
way of England. At this day steam would make 
that matter of little consequence; but then calms 
might delay, and storms might endanger the voy- 
age. Elizabeth refused her the passport desired, 
because she had not signed the treaty of peace, 
nor wiriidrawn her proud claim to bear the arms 
of England as having a title to the crown. In- 
deed, Elizabeth was so offended with her that it 
would have pleased her if her armed vessels had 
captured her in the Channel or in the North 
Sea. Her chief secretary, Cecil, wrote to Sussex, 
"Neither they in Scotland, nor we here, do like 
the Scottish queen going home. The queen's maj- 
esty (Elizabeth) hath three ships in the North 
Seas to preserve the fishers from pirates. I think 
they will be sorry to see her pass." Five days 
was Mary going from Calais to Leith, and without 
seeing any of the armed ships of England sent to 
watch her, and without being seen and greeted 
on approaching the harbor by any of her coun- 
try's ships, on account of the heavy fog on 
the sea. 



The Scottish Reformation. 185 

Queen Mary is thus described by Green : 
6 ' Mary Stuart, whom the death of her husband 
had left a stranger in France, landed suddenly at 
Leith. Girl as she was, and she was only nine- 
teen, she was hardly inferior in intellectual power 
to Elizabeth herself, while in fire and grace and 
brilliancy of temper she stood high above her. 
She brought with her the voluptuous refinement 
of the French renaissance. She would lounge for 
days in bed, and rise only at night for dances and 
music. But her frame was of iron, and incapable 
of fatigue. She galloped ninety miles after her 
last defeat, without a pause, save to change horses. 
She loved risk and adventure and the ring of 
arms. As she rode in a foray against Huntley, 
the grim swordsman beside her heard her wish she 
were a man, 1 to know what life it was to lie all 
night in the field, or to watch on the causey with 
a Glasgow buckler and a broadsword.' But in 
the closet she was as cool and astute a politician 
as Elizabeth herself, with plans as subtle, but of 
a far wider and grander range than the queen's. 
6 Whatever policy is in all the chief and best 



i #6 John Knox. 

practiced heads of France/ wrote an English en- 
voy, ' whatever craft, falsehood, and deceit is in 
all the subtle brains of Scotland, is either fresh 
in this woman's memory, or she can fetch it out 
with a wet finger. ' Her beauty, her exquisite 
grace of manner, her generosity of temper and 
warmth of affection, her frankness of speech, her 
sensibility, her gayety, her womanly tears, her 
manlike courage, the play and freedom of her na- 
ture, the flashes of poetry that broke from her at 
every intense moment of her life, flung a spell 
over friend or foe, which has only deepened with 
the lapse of years. . . . Knox, the greatest 
and sternest of the Calvinistic preachers, alone 
withstood her spell." 



The Scottish Reformation. 



187 



Chapter: X. 

MARY STUART IN SCOTLAND — KNOX PREACHES AT ST. 
GILES — HIS INTERVIEW WITH MARY — PLAN OF ARRAN 
TO SEIZE MARY — MASSACRE AT VASSY — KNOX'S SECOND 
INTERVIEW — JESUIT ENVOY. 

*HT*WO ideas were in the mind of Queen Mary in 
coming to take the throne of her ancestors — 
first, to suppress the Reformation, and restore the 
Roman faith j and, secondly, to make good her 
claim to the English throne, which she had so 
proudly asserted in France. The first thing done 
was to have mass celebrated on the Sabbath after 
her arrival in her private chapel at Holyrood. 
The popular enthusiasm which greeted her as she 
landed at Leith, and rode on a palfrey to Edin- 
burgh, received its first chill by this maneuver. 
IShe had stipulated for this privilege, and the 
lords had granted it; but much excitement was 
manifested, and she scarcely escaped a riot of the 



188 John Knox. 

populace. Lord Lindsay rushed into the court- 
yard, armed, and crying, "The priests should die 
her death!" Lord James Stuart, however, kept 
guard at the door of the chapel, and through the 
influence of Knox and the more conservative of 
the leaders, the people were quieted. 

The next Sabbath Knox preached against the 
mass as a species of idolatry, and he declared 
that it foreboded evil to the nation. " One mass," 
he said, "was more fearful unto him than if ten 
thousand armed enemies were landed in any part 
of the realm of purpose to suppress the holy re- 
ligion." At the time the invitation to return to 
Scotland was presented to the queen, Knox had 
objected to it, and he predicted, if it were al- 
lowed, "her liberty would be their thralldom." 
"God forbid," said the lords of her privy council 
in her presence one day, "God^ forbid that the 
lives of the faithful stand in the power of the 
Papists!" Mary saw the drift of events, and she 
took a cunning course to stem the current. She 
invited no Roman Catholic to place near her, and 
she made her half-brother, Lord James Stuart, and 



The Scottish Reformation. 189 

Maitland her most confidential counselors. She 
disarmed prejudice, and dispelled the fears of 
the Reformers. "I have been here five days," 
said Lord Ochiltree, "and on the first I heard 
every man say, Let us hang the priest; but after 
they had been at the abbey twice or thrice, all 
that fervency was past. I think there is some en- 
chantment whereby men are bewitched." The 
most beautiful woman of her age, and a queen 
adorned with learning and with the easy and ele- 
gant manners of Paris, how could she be other- 
wise than irresistible? 

There was one man made up of such "sterner 
stuff," and having a single eye to God's glory and 
truth, that no blandishments of beauty or royalty 
could move his steadfast mind. He meant to be 
loyal. He had thwarted the scheme of Lord 
James and Chatelherault to exclude her from the 
throne, but he determined that she should have 
no success in her design to replace Romanism, 
and set aside the Reformed religion. It was re- 
ported to her that Knox, the Sunday after her 
advent, had preached a violent and fanatical ser- 



190 John Knox. 

mon against tran substantiation and the mass, and 
in an angry mood she summoned the great 
preacher to come to her in the palace at Holy- 
rood. She began her conversation by referring to 
his book, "The Monstrous Regiment of Women," 
and remarked that it was calculated to excite se- 
dition. Lord James Stuart was present, and 
heard the conversation. Knox explained that the 
book was written against the cruel and absurd 
conduct of Queen Mary, "the wicked Jezebel of 
England." But even in England no one could 
prove that his influence had been otherwise than 
peaceful. The soldiers of Berwick, who had be- 
fore been characterized by violence and disorder, 
had through his efforts become quiet and well- 
behaved. He had been charged with practicing 
magic; but that he could bear, knowing that his 
Master, the Lord Jesus himself, had been charged 
with practicing diabolical arts. " But you say in 
your book that I have no just authority," said 
the queen. He did not deny that such an appli- 
cation might be made of the doctrine of the 
book, but he intended not to press it upon the 



The Scottish Reformation. 191 

people, nor make disturbance. " Plato, the phi- 
losopher, wrote his book * Of the Commonwealth/ 
in which he condemned many things that then 
were maintained in the world, and required many- 
things to be reformed ; and yet, notwithstanding, 
he lived under such policies as were then univer- 
sally received, without further troubling of any 
state. Even so, madam, am I content to do, in 
uprightness of heart, and with the testimony of a 
good conscience." He concluded by saying that 
if he had intended to give her trouble because she 
was a woman, he should have made the effort be- 
fore her arrival in the kingdom. 

She then changed the subject, and animad- 
verted upon the setting up of a religion in the 
land contrary to that of the rulers. He replied 
that true religion proceeded not from princes, but 
from God, and that the Israelites in Egypt did 
not follow the religion of Pharaoh, nor Daniel and 
his companions that of Nebuchadnezzar, nor the 
early Christians that of the Roman emperors. 
" But none of these men," said the queen, "raised 
the sword against their princes. " "They had 



192 John Knox. 

not the power to do so," said Knox. " What, ,: 
said Mary, " think you that subjects having the 
power may resist their princes?" This was a hard 
question, but Knox did not shrink. " Most assur- 
edly," he said, "if 'they exceed their bounds." 
And he illustrated it by the right a family of chil- 
dren have to bind a parent if he should become 
insane or make attempts to murder. "Even so, 
madam," he concluded, "is it with princes that 
would murder the children of God. Their blind 
zeal is nothing but mad frenzy, and therefore, to 
take the sword from them, to bind their hands, 
and to cast them into prison, till they be brought 
to a more sober mind, is no disobedience against 
princes, but just obedience, because it agree th 
with the will of God." 

The queen was astounded by this bold answer. 
She was silent for a time, and seemed in a stupor. 
Lord James at length broke the spell by kindly 
asking his sister what was the matter. She was 
still silent for another moment, and then, turning 
to Knox, she exclaimed, "Well, then, I perceive 
this : my subjects should obey you and not me, 



The Scottish Reformation. 193 

and will do what they please, and not what I 
command, and so must I be subject to them, and 
not they to me." "God forbid" said Knox; 
"but it becomes kings to be nursing fathers and 
queens nursing mothers to the Church." "But," 
said she, "you are not the Church that I will 
nourish. I will defend the Church of Rome, for 
it is, I think, the true Church of God." " Your 
will, madam," rejoined Knox, "is no reason; 
neither doth your thought make the Roman har- 
lot to be the true and immaculate spouse of Jesus 
Christ !" He added that he was ready to prove that 
the Roman Church was more degenerated from 
Christianity than the Jewish Church had degener- 
ated from the Mosaic religion. "My conscience is 
not so," said Mary. "Conscience, madam," he re- 
plied, "requires knowledge; and I fear that right 
knowledge you have none." She replied that she 
had read all about the matter. So he said 
the Jews had the law, but they crucified Christ. 
" Have you heard any teach but such as the 
Pope and cardinals have allowed ? And you may 
be assured that sudi will speak nothing to offend 



194 John Knox. 

their own estate." "You interpret the Scriptures 
one way," said she, "and they in another. 
Whom shall I believe, and who shall be judge ?" 
"You shall believe God, who plainly speaketh in 
his Word," said Knox; and he proceeded to illus- 
trate the remark by referring to his sacrament. 
The queen declined contending with him in argu- 
ment, but if she had present some whom she had 
heard speak on this subject, they would answer 
him. He replied in substance that he would like 
nothing better. "Well," said she, "you may get 
that sooner than you think." But he said, "The 
learned and crafty Papist will never come in your 
audience, madam, to have the ground of their 
religion searched out." 

The hour of dinner coming closed the con- 
versation, and the Edinburgh' minister left, say- 
ing, "I pray God, madam, that you may be as 
blessed within the commonwealth of Scotland as 
ever Deborah was in the commonwealth of Israel." 

The interview made no difference in their posi- 
tion, except that the queen discovered that the 
leader of the Reformation was not a man to be 



The Scottish Reformation. 195 

affected by her arts. He was confirmed in his 
opinion of her as a proud, obstinate, and cunning 
devotee to the Roman heresy. "The cardinal's 
lessons," he wrote to Cecil, " are so deeply printed 
on her heart that the substance and the quality 
are like to perish together. I would be glad to 
be deceived, but I fear I shall not. In conversing 
with her, I espied such craft as I have not found 
in any age." 

The rough and bold manner of Knox Cecil 
feared would do harm; but the opposite was the 
fact — it cheered and invigorated the public mind.' 
"The voice of one man," wrote the English em- 
bassador to Secretary Cecil, " is able in one hour to 
put more life into us than six hundred trumpets 
continually blustering in our ears." Knox wrote of 
those who criticised his frank and vehement man- 
ner : "Men deliting to swym betwix two waters 
have often compleaned upon my severitie. I do 
fear that that which men terme lenitie and dul- 
cenes do bring upon thameselves and others mor 
fearful destruction than yit hath ensewed the ve- 

lemency of any preacher within this realme." 
13 



196 John Knox. 

The queen's influence was soon felt in the 
checking of the Reformation. At the first general 
assembly after her arrival, a number of persons 
in attendance at the court were absent, and as- 
signed as the reason that they doubted the pro- 
priety of holding it against the will of the queen. 
But the assembly was the bulwark of Scottish 
liberty and the Reformation. ' 6 Take from us the 
liberty of assemblies/' said Knox in a heated con- 
troversy with Secretary Maitland, "and you take 
from us the Gospel." But what most excited his 
displeasure was the manner in which the govern- 
ment proposed to divide the revenues of the 
Church; namely, to give two parts to the ejected 
Popish clergy, and to divide the remainder be- 
tween the Reformed ministers and the court. 
"Well," said he, "if the end of this order, pre- 
tended to be taken for the sustentation of the 
ministers, be happy, my judgment fails me. I 
see two parts freely given to the devil, and the 
third may be divided betwix God and devil. 
Who would have thought that, when Joseph ruled 
in Egypt, his brothers should have traveled for 



The Scottish Reformation. 197 

victuals, and have returned with empty sacks to 
their families? O happy servants of the devil, 
and miserable servants of Jesus Christ, if after 
this life there were not heaven and hell!" He 
made not these reflections on account of his own 
privations, for the town council of Edinburgh 
added to his allowance all that was needed for 
his comfortable maintenance. The only good 
thing which came with this distribution of eccle- 
siastical revenues was the recognition of the Re- 
formed Church as a national Church, entitled to 
its support. St. Giles Church was the only 
house of worship in Edinburgh, and it was large 
enough to accommodate three thousand hearers. 
This number often crowded the sanctuary, espe- 
cially when the great preacher was expected to 
discuss topics of general interest. Besides preach- 
ing twice on the Sabbath, and thrice during the 
week, he was often called to preach in different 
and distant parts of the country. In 1562, he 
presided at the election of John Erskine as super- 
intendent of Angus and Mearns, and upon that 
of John Spottiswood as superintendent of Lothian. 



198 John Knox. 

He had John Cairns as an assistant reader, and, 
in 1563, John Craig was elected to share with him 
the ministerial functions. His preaching was al- 
ways carefully prepared and well elaborated. 

Much was said about this time of the meeting 
of the queens of Scotland and England. Many 
of the Reformers looked for this as likely to con- 
ciliate the favor of Mary to Protestantism, and 
for the same reason some of the Roman Catholics 
dreaded it. Randolph, the English embassador 
in Scotland, thought that Elizabeth might be "the 
instrument of Mary's conversion to Christ;" but 
Knox did not favor it. He saw probably that 
Scotland was likely to have a better Church than 
the English establishment ever had been, and that 
it would do better alone. "He gave the cross 
and the candle," Randolph wrote to Cecil, "such 
a wipe last Sunday, that as wise and learned as 
himself wished him to leave hell his peace. He 
accompanied the same with a marvelous vehement 
and piercing prayer in the end of his sermon for 
the continuance of amity and hearty love with 
England." The political union was all-important, 



The Scottish Reformation. 199 
1 

but not the ecclesiastical. The interview of the 
two queens never took place, not even while 
Mary was so long in England as a State prisoner, 
nor did Elizabeth ever recognize Mary as her suc- 
cessor, nor indeed any one else, until with her 
dying breath she named Mary's son, James VI, 
saying England has always been ruled by kings. 

The mad attempt of Arran this year to carry 
off the queen created great excitement. He 
had offered Mary his hand in marriage ; but she 
rejected him with disdain. The disappointment 
of mingled love and ambition turned his brain, 
and he formed a plan to seize her person. The 
plot was found out, and he was taken prisoner, 
and confined by his father, the Duke of Chatel- 
herault, in Hamilton Castle. He escaped, and 
ran to Knox and to Lord James, and from them 
to the queen. In his apologies he ascribed the 
authorship of the plot to Lord Bothwell, and 
he talked of fl devils and enchantment," and of 
' i being bewitched by the mother of Lord James." 
The queen treated the case with becoming for- 
bearance and magnanimity, and after having con- 



200 John Knox. 

fined him and Bothwell for a time in the castle, 
the matter was suffered to blow over, and they 
were released. 

Mary did many things like this to conciliate 
the Protestants. At the marriage of Lord James 
with the daughter of Earl Mar, Randolph wrote 
Cecil, " The queen drank to the English queen's 
majesty, and after supper, in giving thanks, her 
majesty uttered, in many affectionate words, her 
desire of amity and perpetual kindness with the 
queen. 5 9 

The massacre at Vassy, in France, took place 
soon after, and gave occasion for another collision 
of Knox with the queen. Her uncle, the Duke 
of Guise, and Cardinal of Lorraine, was on a 
journey, and stopped for worship at a church 
near a chapel of the Huguenots. While en- 
gaged in his devotions, he was disturbed by the 
loud psalm- singing of the worshipers in the other 
assembly, and he sent a servant to request them 
to forbear. The servant was struck, an outcry 
was made, and a melee of the two parties took 
place, in which a number of the Huguenots were 



The Scottish Reformation. 201 

slain. The very night that the news came it hap- 
pened that the queen gave a royal ball at the Pal- 
ace of Holyrood. She was absurdly accused of 
celebrating the massacre. Knox himself said, 
"She danced like the Philistines, for the pleasure 
she took in the destruction of God's people." 
There is no evidence of this, nor does it agree 
with the policy she had adopted. 

The next Sabbath Knox preached against such 
amusements, and made many flings against those 
that participated in the ball. This sermon was 
reported to the queen about as correctly as ran- 
dom reporters in our times report the sermons of 
preachers. The queen summoned him to her 
presence. Being surrounded by her counselors 
and maids of honor, she accused him of speaking 
of her in an irreverent and unbecoming manner, 
and made a long speech on the subject. He 
heard her patiently, and, in good temper, replied 
that she had been treated as often happened to 
those who neglected public worship and were de- 
pendent on the reports of others for what passed 
there ; and he believed, had she been present, she 



202 John Knox. 

woul f d not have been offended by what was actu- 
ally said by him. He then repeated the substance 
of his remarks, as nearly as he could remember 
them, adding, "If any man, madam, will say that 
I spoke more, let him now accuse me." No one 
contradicting him, and several persons affirming 
the correctness of his statement, the queen replied 
that his words were sharp enough, but were not 
so bad as were reported to her. Her uncles were 
of a different religion from him, and she did not 
blame him for not liking them; but if any thing 
was reported about her conduct which offended 
him, he should come to her in private and not 
charge her in public with misconduct. Knox re- 
plied that he was ready to do any thing for her 
satisfaction which comported with his office. If 
her grace chose to attend his public discourse, 
she could hear what pleased or displeased him in 
her and others; or, if she pleased to appoint a 
time when she would hear the substance of his 
doctrine, he would most gladly wait upon her; 
but to come to her chamber-door, and then to 
have liberty only to whisper in her ear what 



The Scottish Reformation. 203 

people thought and said of her, that would neither 
his conscience nor his office permit him to do. 
44 For," he added, "albeit at your grace's com- 
mandment I am here now, yet can I not tell what 
other men shall judge of me, that at this time of 
day am absent from my book and waiting upon 
the court." "You will not always be at your 
book/' said the queen, with a sneer, and abruptly 
left him. Knox smiled as he turned to leave, and 
some of the attendants said, "He is not afraid." 
"Why should the pleasing face of a gentle-woman 
affright me ? r ' he said, as he overheard the re- 
mark. "I have looked in the faces of many 
angry men, and yet hare not been afraid beyond 
measure." 

In reference to the riot at Vassy, she directed 
Maitland, in preparing for her intended visit, to 
say to the Queen of England "that Knox had 
blamed her uncles, the Guises, for the massacre at 
Vassy;" but she "would forget her uncles," and 
trusted her "good sister was too good to blame her 
for the faults of others." 

But the privy council of Elizabeth thought it 



204 John Knox. 

would better become her at such a time as this, 
when the Papists were fiercely persecuting the 
Protestants, to get herself ready to oppose the 
Papist league. Finally, Sir Henry Sydney was 
sent by Elizabeth with a message to Queen Mary 
that the interview must be postponed. Sydney 
had scarcely courage to present the unpleasant 
message in person, and he gave it to the secretaries. 
Upon hearing it she was affected to tears, and 
then " burst into a violent passion," and "kept 
her bed all that day." The next morning she had 
recovered her spirits enough to send for Sir Henry, 
and told him she would wait for a more auspicious 
time, "convinced of the good will of her loving 
sister." 

The Guises subsequently advised the queen to 
abandon her policy, and come out boldly for the 
Catholics. But how could she? Every symptom 
of such a disposition was watched with Argus eyes 
by the Scottish public. The Pope sent a secret 
message to her by a Jesuit bishop, and he was 
conducted to her presence while her Protestant 
courtiers were at Church by Secretary Maitland, 



The Scottish Reformation. 205 

who began to side with her Romish tendencies, 
though he was a man without any religious con- 
victions. The interview was scarcely begun when 
Lord James Stuart and Randolph returned from 
Church, and came near surprising the bishop ! 
He escaped, but Randolph told Lord James he 
saw "a strange visage " of one passing out of the 
ante-chamber in haste. This confirmed Lord 
James in his suspicions that his sister was plotting 
to restore the Roman Church to power. 



206 



John Knox. 



diopter" XI. 



LORD JAMES MADE EARL OF MURRAY — MARY VISITS HUNT- 
LEY — HIS DEATH — EXECUTION OF HIS SON — DISPUTE OF 
CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT PREACHERS — TRIAL OF 
PAUL METHVEN FOR ADULTERY — INTERVIEW WITH THE 
QUEEN — ELIZABETH AND MARY — FIRST PARLIAMENT 
UNDER MARY — REFUSES TO INDORSE THE REFORMA- 
TION — KNOX PREACHES TO THE LORDS — KNOX'S THIRD 
INTERVIEW WITH MARY — SHE IS MAD WITH HIM — KNOX 
'IS SLANDERED — A CIRCULAR AGAINST MARY — HE IS 
TRIED AND ACQUITTED. 

r I ^HE lands of Murray having been unlawfully 



held by the Earl of Huntley, were assigned 
by Mary to her half-brother, Lord James Stuart. 
The transfer was resisted by Huntley, and Lord 
James took the queen with him on his journey to 
take possession. When they reached Aberdeen 
the queen received an invitation to visit Huntley 
at his mansion in Strathbogie; but, knowing that 
he was shielding his son Lord John Gordon from 
punishment for rebellion and murder, she sent 




The Scottish Reformation. 207 

word that he must be delivered up to justice. But 
as this was not regarded, Lord James and the 
queen approached Inverness, the stronghold of 
the clan, and ordered the gates to be opened. 
This the captain of the guard refused. The place 
was carried by storm, and the captain was 
' 'hanged over the battlements." Returning, Lord 
James was waylaid by a large force of the Gordon 
clan, who intended to capture the queen; but 
her presence seemed to awe them, and they dis- 
persed. They turned back to Aberdeen, and 
Huntley was informed that the queen would re- 
main there until Lord John was captured or sur- 
rendered. The Earl of Huntley fled with a large 
force to the stronghold of Bedenect, until, upon a 
rumor of the queen's guard being bribed in his 
favor, he issued for his retreat, and, passing 
through a bog called Carrichie Burn, his party 
was surrounded, and two hundred of his band 
. were killed, and the earl himself and his sons, 
^ Lord John and Lord Adam Gordon, were cap- 
tured. Not long after, Earl Huntley fell dead 
from the horse on which he rode with his captor. 



208 John Knox. 

Lord John was beheaded at Aberdeen and Lord 
Adam was pardoned in consideration of his be- 
ing but a boy of seventeen years of age. 

While this was going on at the north of Scotland, 
the archbishop of St. Andrews was stirring up sedi- 
tion among the Papists of the south. Knox was, 
by the General Assembly, appointed to visit the 
Churches of the west, and he took occasion to 
exhort and persuade the Reformers to enter into 
special bands to defend the cause. These he 
sent to Galloway and Nithsdale, and in his public, 
and private discourses he strengthened the hearts 
and hands of the Reformers. He sent warning 
to the Earl of Both well not to join Huntley, 
and he wrote to the Duke of Chatelherault to 
beware how he listened to the treasonable solic- 
itations of his brother, the archbishop of St. 
Andrews. By these efforts the south was kept 
quiet, while the army of Lord James suppressed 
the insurrection in the north. 

Notwithstanding, the queen encouraged herself 
to hope before a year was expired to have the 
mass restored throughout the whole kingdom. 



The Scottish Reformation. 209 



The Roman clergy also rallied to the defense of 
their theology. They began public preaching 
and challenged the Protestants to disputation. 
Quintin Kennedy, the old abbot of Crossraguel, 
was put forward as the champion of the Roman 
cause. In 1558 he had printed a book, arguing 
that the nearest way to peace of conscience was 
to receive humbly and without question all the 
dicta of the Church as the only interpreter 
of the Scriptures. Yes, this would be peace ! 
peace like that of the conqueror "who made a 
desert and called it peace." All fruitful life is 
extinguished in a soul that never thinks for 
itself. The next year he challenged Willock to a 
public disputation, but when the time came he 
V refused to appear unless his antagonist would 
submit to the interpretation of the Scriptures 
which had been given by the ancient doctors of the 
Church." This year, 1562, the abbot announced 
in his chapel of Kirk Oswald, that he would defend 
against all comers certain articles respecting the 
mass, purgatory, praying to saints, use of images, 
etc., and that the next Sabbath he would more fully 



210 John Knox. 

explain the points in question. It happened that 
Knox was in the neighborhood that day, and he 
went to hear the abbot with a view to accept the 
challenge. The abbot did not appear, and Knox 
took the opportunity to preach in the chapel a 
Gospel sermon. At the close of the service a 
letter was handed to him in which the abbot 
agreed to meet him on the next Sabbath, on con- 
dition that but twenty persons on each side 
should be admitted to hear the discussion. Knox 
was engaged on that day, and did not like the 
restrictions any way. After this kind of pre- 
liminary skirmishing for some weeks, they at last 
met on the morning of the 28th of September, at 
the house of the provost of Maybole. Forty 
persons on each side and other friends of the 
parties were to be witnesses, and scribes were ap- 
pointed to make records. The house was full.. 
At the opening, Knox proposed prayer by the 
abbot; but he declined, and Knox prayed. The 
abbot and his friends listened with respect, and 
at the close the abbot said, "By my faith, it is 
weel said." The abbot then read a paper in 



The Scottish Reformation. 



211 



which he said that the dispute was not to imply 
that the points in question were dubious, being 
already settled by the general councils. To this 
Knox put in a written rejoinder. The mass was 
the subject to be discussed. A specimen of the 
tedious and profitless logomachies of those times 
may be found by the curious in Dr. M'Crie's 
' 1 Life of Knox." I pass on. 

Early in 1563 a disagreeable duty was assigned 
to Knox by the General Assembly. The min- 
ister of Jedburgh, Paul Methven, was suspected 
of adultery. This was a case where the reputa- 
tion of the rising Church of Scotland was likely 
to be involved, and it was now to see whether 
the Reformers were really reformed from the sad 
laxity of morals which characterized the old 
Church of Roman Catholic faith. The examina- 
tion resulted in a verdict of guilty, and he was in 
due form excommunicated. He left the country 
for a time, and then returned and submitted to the 
discipline of the Church, which, according to the 
usage of the patristic age, required public confes- 
sion and humiliation; but overcome with shame he 



212 John Knox. 

broke down in the midst of it and again fled to Eng- 
land, but the Church was protected from scandal. 

The new laws of Scotland in relation to re- 
ligion interdicted the public celebration of the 
mass; but now the Catholics, knowing that the 
queen was of their religion and had private 
masses in the palace, began to doubt the sincerity 
of her queenly proclamations in behalf of the 
law, and believed they could trespass with im- 
punity. The result was a counter violation of 
law and order by the Protestants in the West, 
who seized the priest while engaged in the serv- 
ice and threatened to "execute upon idolaters 
the punishment contained in God's Word." Of 
course the queen was indignant, but smothering 
her anger she sent for Knox, and labored ear- 
nestly with him to exert his influence on the people 
to restrain them. He told her plainly that if in- 
stead of words she would exercise her lawful power 
and authority to execute the laws against the 
public masses, he would answer for the peaceful 
conduct of the Protestants, but if she evaded 
her responsibility, he feared that the irregular 



The Scottish Reformation. 213 

proceedings would have to go on. 6 'Will ye 
allow," said the queen with emotion, " that they 
shall take ray sword into their hands?" He re- 
plied that if princes neglected their duty, the 
people, as in the case of "Agag, whom Saul had 
saved/' might take upon themselves to execute 
judgment when God has commanded. He en- 
treated the queen not to create such a necessity 
by neglecting to enforce the law herself. "Think, 
madam/' he said, "think of the mutual contract 
and the mutual duties between yourself and your 
subjects. They are bound to obey you, you 
are bound to keep the laws unto them." Mary 
closed the conversation abruptly and with man- 
ifestations of displeasure. 

The next day she was in a different mood, 
and sent an invitation to him to see her again 
before he left town. He accordingly went to 
her near Kinorss, where she was going out hunt- 
ing. She had other subjects to consult with him 
about. She cautioned him against the election 
of the bishop of Caithness as superintendent of 
Drumfries. 



214 John Knox. 

"If you knew him as well as I do," she said, 
"you would not promote him to that office nor 
to any other within your kirk." 

He replied that many thought very well of 
him. 

"Well, do as you will," she said; "but he is 
a dangerous man." 

She spoke of Lord Ruthven. "He had of- 
fered her a ring, but" she could not love him. 
He used enchantments. He was a member of 
her privy council through the influence of Leth- 
ington." 

She detained him to say, "I have one of the 
greatest matters that have touched me since I 
came into this realm to open to you, and I must 
have your help in it." She referred to the do- 
mestic difficulty between the Earl and Countess 
of Argyle. 

Knox thought it was settled. 

"Not so," said Mary. "It is worse than you 
think, and I pray you, for my sake, once again 
put them at amity, and if she behave not herself 
as she ought to do, she shall find no favor of me; 



The Scottish Reformation. 215 

but in any wise let not my lord know that I have 
requested you in this matter." 

She then reverted to the conversation of last 
evening, and said, "I promise to do as ye re- 
quired; I shall cause to summon all offenders, 
and ye shall know that I shall minister justice." 

"I am assured then," said Knox, "that you 
shall please God and enjoy rest and tranquillity 
with your realm, which to your majesty is more 
profitable than all the Pope's power can be." 

With that they parted, mutually gratified by 
the interview. They both fulfilled their engage- 
ments. Knox wrote to Argyle, but he only 
incurred his ill-will. As to the bishop of Caithness, 
he got the election postponed for further inquiries. 
Mary on her part gave orders to have the bishop 
of St. Andrews, the prior of Whithorn, the priest of 
Farquhar, and several other Papal priests, brought 
before the bar of the Lord Justice-general, the Earl 
of Argyle, to answer for violating the law and dis- 
regarding her proclamations. They pleaded guilty, 
and were imprisoned. This was no doubt much 
against her private feelings; but as the Parliament 



216 John Knox. 

was soon to meet, she had a point to carry. After 
the session of the Parliament they were set at liberty. 

The first session of Parliament since the queen's 
arrival was an occasion of great interest and im- 
portance. Mary rode in a splendid procession to 
the Tolbooth, where it was held. Her retinue, in 
brilliant garbs, surrounded the throne or thronged 
the galleries, and the body of the hall was filled 
by the members of the estates. The queen de- 
livered the customary speech from the throne. It 
was written in French, but she spoke it in En- 
glish with such grace as to captivate the assem- 
bly. They said, "May God bless that sweet 
face. She speaks as properly as the best orator 
among them." 

This first Parliament under Mary was the time 
to ratify the treaty of peace of the former Parlia- 
ment, by which the Reformed religion was estab- 
lished as the national religion; but, fascinated by 
the beauty and eloquence of the queen, the op- 
portunity was suffered to pass, against the judg- 
ment and earnest protest of Knox. The lords re- 
plied to his remonstrances that it was not expedient 



The Scottish Reformation. 217 

at this time ; that the queen was expected to marry- 
soon, and then a better occasion would occur. 
Knox replied that occasion was represented by 
the poets and painters with a bald hind-head. 
Lord James said: "The queen had kept her 
promise, the Reformed religion was established, 
and the mass-mongers were punished." Knox 
was angry, and accused him "of sacrificing truth 
to convenience, and the service of God to the in- 
terests of his ambition. " Lord James was stung 
by these rebukes, which he felt were rude and 
unjust, and he replied with acrimony. A breach 
was made in the friendship of these noble-hearted 
men, which lasted two years. It is not easy to 
judge between them. The queen was pleased to 
see their alienation, and, as Knox afterward wrote, 
"cast oil into the flame, until God did quench 
it by the water of affliction. " 

In the pulpit of St. Giles, Knox gave utterance 
to the feelings of his heart. He reminded the 
nobility and leading members of Parliament of 
the past deliverance they had experienced from 
the hand of God, and how deep was their debt 



218 John Knox. 

of gratitude. "I have been with you," he cried 
in tones that thrilled every heart in the assembly, 
V in your most desperate temptations; in your most 
extreme dangers I have been with you. I see 
before me the beleagured camp at Johnston; I 
see your meeting on Cowper Muir; hear the 
tramp of the horsemen as they charged you in 
the streets of Edinburgh; and most of all is that 
dark and dolorous night now present to my eyes 
in which all of you, my lords, in shame and fear 
left this town — and God forbid I should ever 
forget it ! What was then, I say, my exhortation 
to you? and what has fallen in vain of all that God 
ever promised you by my mouth ? Speak, I say, 
for ye yourselves live to testify. There is not one 
of you, against whom death and destruction was 
threatened, who hath perished in that danger. 
And how many of your enemies hath God plagued 
before your eyes ! And is this to be the thankful- 
ness ye shall render unto your God, to betray his 
cause, when you have it in your hands to estab- 
lish it as you please? The queen says ' ye will not 
agree with her.' Ask of her that which by God's 



The Scottish Reformation. 219 

Word ye may justly require ; and if she will not 
agree with you in God, ye are not a-bound to 
agree with her in the devil. Let her plainly un- 
derstand so far of your minds; forsake not your 
former courage in God's cause, and be assured 
that he will prosper you in your enterprises. 
And now, my lords, to put an end to all this I 
hear of the queen's marriage. Dukes, brethren 
to emperors and kings, strive all for the best gain. 
But thus, my lords, will I say : note the day, and 
bear witness hereafter. Whenever the nobility of 
Scotland, who profess the Lord Jesus, consent 
that an infidel (and all Papists are infidels) shall 
be head to our sovereign, ye do as far as in 
you lieth to banish Jesus Christ from this realm, 
and to bring God's vengeance on the country." 

Such zeal was regarded by friends and foes as 
fanatical. Knox himself says, " These words and 
this manner of speaking were judged intolerable." 
The queen resented it, especially his reference to 
her marriage, and commanded him to come to 
her, and answer for his conduct. Accompanied 
by Lord Ochiltree and several other nobles, he 



220 



John Knox. 



went to Holyrood ; but Baron Erskine was the 
only one allowed to be present at the interview. 

A cloud was upon her countenance as she be- 
gan her speech. Never had prince been handled as 
he had handled her. She had borne his severest 
censures, his most bitter speeches against herself 
and her uncles; she had sought his favor, offering 
him audience when he pleased to admonish her. 
"And yet I can not be quit of you. I vow to 
God I shall be once revenged." With that she 
burst into tears. Knox was affected, and waited 
respectfully for her passion to subside. He then 
said he had no desire to offend her grace, but to 
speak the truth. She had not been offended in 
the previous controversies. When it should please 
God to deliver her from bondage to the errors of 
her early education, her majesty would not find 
the liberty of his tongue offensive. Out of the 
pulpit, he thought, few had occasion to be of- 
fended with him ; but there he was not master 
of himself, but bound to obey Him who com- 
manded him to speak plainly, and to flatter no 
flesh on the face of the earth. 



The Scottish Reformation. 221 

"But what have you to do with my marriage? 
What have you to do with my marriage ?" she 
said, vehemently repeating the question. "Or 
what are you in this commonwealth ?" "A sub- 
ject born within the same," he said with firmness. 
"And albeit I be neither earl, lord, nor baron in 
it, yet has God made me, however abject I be in 
your eyes, a profitable member of the same. 
Yea, madam, to me it appertains no less to fore- 
warn of such things as may hurt it, if I foresee 
them, than it doth to any of the nobility; for 
both my vocation and conscience require plain- 
ness of me. Therefore, madam, to yourself I say 
that which I spoke in public place: 'Whenever 
the nobility of the realm shall consent that ye be 
subject to an unfaithful husband, they do as much 
as in them lieth to renounce Christ, to banish his 
truth from them, to betray the freedom of this 
realm, and perchance shall in the end do small 
comfort to yourself. 999 As he said this, the queen 
again began to weep. Baron Erskine spoke sooth- 
ingly to her, and said there was not a prince in 
Europe but would be happy to win her hand. 



222 John Knox. 

Knox was silent until her paroxysm of weeping 
was over, when he said "he never took delight 
in the pain of any creature. It pained him to 
correct his children, much more to cause her 
majesty to weep; but he must bear her weeping 
rather than hurt his conscience and betray the 
commonwealth through silence." 

This apology only the more excited her indigna- 
tion, and she ordered him to leave her presence, 
and wait her pleasure in the next apartment. As 
he passed out and stood in the adjoining room, no 
one gave him the slightest recognition, except Lord 
Ochiltree. They acted as if they had never seen 
him, or were afraid to give him countenance. After 
a while he spoke to the ladies who sat in the room 
dressed in the richest of court style. "O fair 
ladies," said the preacher, "how pleasing were 
this life of yours if it should ever abide, and then 
in the end that ye might pass to heaven with all 
this gay gear." Thus he remained chatting 
until his friend Erskine came from the queen to 
say he might retire. Mary took the advice of ~ 
her council as to whether Knox's language was 



The Scottish Reformation. 223 

of such treasonable nature as to justify further pro- 
ceedings. They advised that the case be dropped. 
u So," said Knox, " that storm quieted in appear- 
ance, but never in heart." It has often been said 
that misfortune M never rains, but it pours." While 
the reformer was thus the object of censure, not 
only by the court and the Papists, but by his own 
brethren, there came from an enemy a charge 
similar to that which he had been called to try in 
respect to a brother minister. A Roman Catholic 
woman of Edinburgh, by the name of Euphemia 
Dundas, in the heat of theological controversy, 
declared that Knox was addicted to such vices, 
and " that he had been caught in company with 
a prostitute." This was such a manifest scandal 
that in ordinary times it would have been passed ♦ 
over as an ebullition of sectarian malice. But the 
circumstances of the case were such that it was 
deemed best for him and for the cause he repre- 
sented that a legal investigation should be made. 
Accordingly, after due legal formalities, the ac- 
cuser and the accused were summoned to appear 
before the Town Council. The accuser appeared 



224 John Knox. 

at the court, and, when questioned, positively de- 
nied that she had ever used any such words. 
There being at the moment no evidence to the 
contrary, the case was dismissed, though after- 
wards proof was adduced that the woman in her 
spleen had uttered the slander. No credit was 
given to it at the time, though Popish devotees 
afterwards tried to revive the scandal. 

A trouble of a different kind was soon after 
proposed for our subject. While the queen was 
away from Holy rood-house at Sterling, the mem- 
bers of her household observed the sacrament 
with some of the discarded superstitious practices 
of the Roman Church. This offended the Prot- 
estant populace, some of whom burst into the 
chapel of the palace* at the time of service, and 
rudely demanded of the priest how he dared 
to act in that manner when the queen was 
away. The mistress of the household in her 
alarm sent a message to the comptroller at St. 
Giles Church to come to their help. He came 
immediately, attended by the magistrate and a 
guard. But the show of tumult was over when 



The Scottish Reformation. 225 

they arrived at the palace. The queen, when in- 
formed of these affairs, declared she would not 
return to Edinburgh unless the rioters were pun- 
ished. She had two of the party indicted for 
riotous conduct. Knox was requested to write to 
a number of leading men among the Protestants, 
requesting their presence at the trial. A copy of 
the letter was obtained, and sent by Bishop Ross 
to Mary, who took it to her privy council, and 
they declared it treasonable. Knox w r as indicted, 
and the day of trial was appointed. Great effort 
was made by Maxwell, Murray, and Maitland to 
induce Knox to confess his fault and throw him- 
self on the queen's mercy. But he could not com- 
promise his conscience nor encourage the syco- 
phantic and vulgar cry of treason when there was 
no offense to royalty. 

The trial was attended by crowds of interested 
and anxious people. The queen was present, and, 
when she looked on the imperturbable reformer 
standing uncovered at the table, she burst into 
laughter, and said, "That man has made me weep, 
and shed never a tear himself. I will now see 



226 John Knox. 

if I can make him weep." She thought she had 
him this time. A copy of his letter was read, and 
he acknowledged it was his hand over his sub- 
scription. ' 'You have done more than I would 
have done," said Secretary Maitland. " Charity 
is not suspicious," said Knox. "Well, well," in- 
terposed Queen Mary, "read your own letter, 
and then answer to such things as shall be de- 
manded of you." He read it in a clear and 
strong voice. " Heard you ever, my lords, a more 
despiteful and treasonable letter ?" cried the 
queen. "Mr. Knox," said Maitland, "are you 
not sorry from your heart, and do you not repent 
that such a letter has passed your pen?" "My 
Lgrd Secretary," said Knox, "before I repent I 
must be taught my offense." "Offense! if it 
were no more than the convocation of the queen's 
lieges, the offense can not be denied." "There 
is a wide difference between a lawful and an un- 
lawful convocation," said Knox. "If I have 
been guilty in this, I have offended oft since I 
came last into Scotland; for what convocation of 
the brethren has ever been to this hour, unto which 



The Scottish Reformation. 227 

my pen served not?" " Then was then, and now 
is now," said Maitland; " we have no need of 
such convocations as sometimes we have had." 
"The time," said Knox, solemnly, "that has 
been is even now before my eyes; for I see the 
poor flock in no less danger than it has been at 
any time before, except that the devil has got a 
vizor on his face. Before, he came in with his 
own face, discovered by open tyranny, seeking 
the destruction of all that refused idolatry; and 
then, I think, you will confess the brethren law- 
fully assembled for the defense of their lives; but 
now the devil comes under a cloak of justice to 
do that which God would not suffer him to do by 
strength." 

"What is this," exclaimed the queen, "what 
is this ? Methinks you trifle with him. Who gave 
him authority to make convocation of my lieges? 
Is not that treason ?" 

Lord Ruthven here interposed, and answered, 

firmly, "No, madam, for he makes convocation 

of the people to hear prayer and sermon daily ; 

and whatever your grace or others will think 
15 



228 John Knox. 

thereof, we think it no treason." " Hold your 
peace," said the queen, "and let him answer for 
himself." " I began, madam," Knox continued, 
"to reason with the secretary (whom I take to be 
a better dialectician than your grace), that all 
convocations are not unlawful; and now Lord 
Ruthven has given the instance." "I will say 
nothing," rejoined the queen, "against your re- 
ligion, nor against your convening to your ser- 
mons; but what authority have you to convocate 
my subjects when you will without my command- 
ment?" Knox replied he had only obeyed the 
will of his brethren. "You shall not escape so," 
cried the queen. "Is it not treason, my lord, to 
accuse a prince of cruelty ? I think there be acts 
of Parliament against such whisperers." Several 
of the nobles assented. "But wherein," asked 
Knox, "can I be accused of this?" "Read this 
part of your bill," said Mary. "This fearful sum- 
mons is directed against them [the two persons in- 
dicted] to make no doubt a preparative on a few, that 
a door may be opened to execute cruelty upon a greater 
multitude? Lo, what say you to that ?" 



The Scottish Reformation. 229 

"Is it lawful for me, madam, to answer for 
myself, or shall I be condemned unheard ?" 
"Say what you can, for I think you have enough 
to do." "I will first then desire of your grace," 
said Knox, assuming that bold tone which had 
given strength and courage to so many of his 
fainting brethren, "and of this most honorable 
audience, whether your grace knows not that the 
obstinate Papists are deadly enemies to all such 
as profess the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that 
they most earnestly desire the extermination of 
them and of the true doctrine that is taught in this 
realm." The lords boldly responded, "God for- 
bid that ever the lives of the faithful, or yet the 
staying of the doctrine stood in the power of the 
Papists! for just experience has taught us what 
cruelty lies in their hearts." "I must proceed, 
then, seeing that I perceive that all will grant 
that it were a barbarous thing to destroy such a 
multitude as profess the Gospel of Christ within 
this realm, which oftener than once or twice they 
have attempted to do by force; they, by God and 
by his providence being disappointed, have in- 



230 John Knox. 

vented more crafty practices; to wit, to make a 
prince a party under color of law ; so that what 
they could not do by open force they shall per- 
form by crafty deceit. For who thinks, my lords, 
that the insatiable cruelty of the Papists (within 
this realm I mean) shall end in the murdering of 
these two brethren, now unjustly summoned, and 
more unjustly to be accused? And therefore, 
madam, cast up, when you list the acts of your 
Parliament. I have offended nothing against 
them; for I accuse not your grace, nor yet your 
nature, of cruelty. But I affirm yet again that 
the pestilent Papists, who have inflamed your 
grace against those poor men at this present, are 
the sons of the devil, and therefore must obey the 
desires of their father, who has been a liar and 
manslayer from the beginning." "You forget 
yourself!" cried one of the lords, "you are not 
now in the pulpit." "I am in the place where I 
am demanded of conscience to speak the truth; 
and therefore the truth I do speak, impugn it 
whoso list." Then turning to the queen, he 
added "that persons who appeared of honest, 



The Scottish Reformation. 231 

gentle and meek natures had often been corrupted 
by evil counsels, and the Papists who had her ear 
were dangerous counselors, and such her mother 
the regent had found them to be." 

The queen now turned the theme and up- 
braided him for his severity at their last interview. 
"You speak fair enough at present before the 
lords, but on that occasion you caused me to 
shed many salt tears, and you set not by my 
weeping." 

Knox then gave an account of that conver- 
sation as we have described. There was then a 
consultation of the secretary with the queen, 
after which Knox was told that he might retire. 
"I thank God and the queen's majesty," he 
said, and departed to his home.* The queen 
then withdrew to await the verdict. 

When the votes came to be taken, to the sur- 
prise and chagrin of the secretary, the verdict 
of the majority, all indeed except the members 
of the queen's household, was that he was not 



*See "M'Crie's Life of Knox." 



232 John Knox. 

guilty. The secretary went out and called in 
the queen, and proceeded to call the vote anew. 
The lords were indignant at this attempt to over- 
awe them. "What," cried they, " shall the Laird 
of Lethington have power to control us? or shall 
the presence of a woman cause us to offend God 
and to condemn an innocent man against our 
consciences ?" They then repeated the verdict, 
and added to it a commendation of the manner 
in which Knox had defended himself. Even the 
Bishop of Ross, who had been his accuser, voted 
for his acquittal. This vexed the queen, and she 
exclaimed, "Why should not the old fool follow 
the footsteps of those that passed before him !" 

"That night/' wrote Knox, "there was neither 
dancing nor fiddling in the court; for madam was 
disappointed in her purpose, which was to have 
had John Knox in her will by vote of her 
nobility." 

The queen would not be satisfied, and Lord 
James, who voted for him, and Secretary Mait- 
land, who voted against him, joined in advising 
Knox to make some submission, and let her send 



The Scotish Reformation. 233 

him to the castle. This would save appearances, 
and she would immediately release him. But 
Knox refused to comply with this suggestion, as 
it would be a confession of sedition and repudi- 
ate the verdict of the nobles. Nothing more was 
done by the court about this matter, but when 
the General Assembly of the Scottish Church 
met, Knox presented his case to them, and asked 
"whether or not they had given him a commis- 
sion to advertise his brethren 99 in such instances 
of peril to the cause. The courtiers present 
objected to considering the question; but it was 
discussed nevertheless, and a large majority de- 
clared in the affirmative and justified the con- 
duct of Knox. 



234 



John Knox. 



dllkptef XII. 

KNOX'S SECOND MARRIAGE — DEBATE WITH MAITLAND IN 
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

T N the late difficulty of Knox we find Lord 
Ochiltree standing by him when others were 
turning their backs to him. To the daughter of 
this amiable nobleman he made an offer of mar- 
riage and was accepted. The marriage took 
place in March, 1564. She proved a congenial 
spirit, and they lived happily together until the 
close of his life. The Popish writers laughed at 
this marriage, and said he was aiming at the 
throne of Scotland for his offspring, for Marguerite 
Stuart Ochiltree was of blood royal, and that he 
had the assistance of the devil and sorcery in 
winning the heart of the lady. They affirmed 
that he had sought a similar alliance, and for the 
same ambitious purpose, with the family of the 
Duke of Chatelherault, but was repulsed. 



The Scottish Reformation. 235 

In the month of June of this year the General 
Assembly met, and the question came up of re- 
straining the ministers whose violence of speech 
had offended the courtiers and some of the luke- 
warm advocates of Protestantism. A sharp de- 
bate arose between Secretary Maitland and Knox 
on the subject, and especially in regard to the lat- 
ter's style of praying for the queen and the doctrine 
he held forth in reference to the royal authority 
and the duties of subjects. "In praying for her 
majesty," said Maitland, "ye do so with a con- 
dition : 1 Illuminate her heart if thy good pleasure 
be;' but where have ye examples of such prayer?'' 
"Wherever the examples are," said Knox, "I 
am assured of the rule, 1 If we shall ask any 
thing according to His will, he will hear us.' 
And Christ commanded us to pray, 'Thy will 
be done.'" "But," said the secretary, "in doing 
so ye put a doubt in people's minds as to her 
conversion." "Not I, my lord, but her own 
obstinate rebellion causes more than me to doubt 
her conversion. In all the actions of her life 
she rebels against God, especially that she will 



236 John Knox. 

not hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that 
she maintains the idol of the mass." The queen 
up to this time had not once listened to preaching 
by a Reformed minister. "She thinks not that 
rebellion, but true religion," said Maitland. 
"So thought they," rejoins Knox, "who of- 
fered their children to Moloch, and yet the 
Spirit of the God affirms that they offered them 
to devils." 

Knox adverted to the queen's neglect of listen- 
ing to the admonitions, of the Reformed preachers. 
"She never will," said the secretary, "while ye 
entreat her as ye do." "Then," replied Knox, 
6 so long as she refuses to hear the Gospel, so 
long must ye be content that I pray so as I may 
be assured to be heard of my God, either in 
making her conformable to his Church; or, if 
he has appointed her to be a scourge to the 
same, that we may have patience and she may 
be bridled." Maitland blamed Knox for apply- 
ing to rulers the expression, "the slaves of Satan." 
"I have not invented that," replied Knox, "but 
have learned it out of God's Word, as I find 



The Scottish Reformation. 237 

these words spoken to St. Paul, 6 Behold, I send 
them unto the Gentiles, to open their eyes, that 
they may turn from darkness to light, and from 
the power of Satan unto God.' Mark the words, 
my lord, and stir not at the speaking of the Holy 
Ghost." 

Little did Maitland care for the Holy Scrip- 
tures, for, according to Froude, he lived and 
died a skeptic. He was now weary of the dis- 
cussion, and he called upon George Hay, a Prot- 
estant minister, to continue it. Knox objected 
to this as preposterous, to array ministers of the 
same faith against each other; and Hay declared 
that he agreed with Knox on the subject under 
debate, and declined the antagonism. 

Maitland then objected that Knox had ad- 
vanced the doctrine that subjects " may without 
guilt resist rulers if they commanded unlawful 
things." Knox admitted that he so taught, and 
quoted from the Scriptures the rescue of Jonathan 
by the people from the hands of King Saul, who 
was about to put his son to death after a great 
victory, because he had tasted of honey, contrary 



238 John Knox. 

to the king's interdict of food to his army that 
day. "As to the saying of St. Paul, 'The powers 
that be are ordained of God; whosoever there- 
fore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance 
of God' (Rom. xiii, 1, 2), it is not to be un- 
derstood of the unjust commandment of rulers, but 
of the just power wherewith God has armed his 
magistrates to punish sin and to maintain virtue. 
To rescue a murderer from the hands of justice 
would be to resist the ordinance of God; but for 
men in the power of God to oppose themselves to 
the fury and blind rage of princes was not resist- 
ing God, but the devil." " I understand," replied 
the secretary, "and in part agree with you. For 
if the queen should desire me to slay John Knox 
because she is offended with him, I would not 
obey her ; but if she commanded others to do, or 
yet by color of justice take his life from him, I 
can not tell if I be bound to defend him against 
the queen and her officers." " But if you be per- 
suaded of my innocence," said Knox, "and have 
the power to deliver me, if you suffer me to 
perish, you shall be guilty of my blood." "Prove 



The Scottish Reformation. 239 

that," c*ied Maitland. Knox then said enough to 
draw out of him that, if the queen should become 
a persecutor, he would act upon the Reformer's 
doctrine. 

He now turned to another point. ' ' Ought we 
to suppress the queen's mass or be chargeable 
with her idolatry?" Knox, who labored under 
the mistaken idea that in our age we should be 
governed by the civil laws of Moses, answered, 
" Idolatry ought to be suppressed, and the idolater 
should die the death." "True," replied Maitland, 
but by whom?" "By the people," said Knox, 
"for ' hear, O Israel, saith the Lord, the statutes 
and commandments of the Lord thy God. ? " 

The assembly adjourned without taking a deci- 
sive vote on the question. All agreed that idolatry 
should be punished by law, which was according 
to ideas of those times; but the point was not 
that, but "who should administer the punishment 
of idolatry?" The confidence of the General As- 
sembly in Knox was evinced that year by their 
twice electing him to visit the Churches in dif- 
ferent parts of the country. 



240 



John Knox. 



Cfykptef XIII. 

QUEEN MARY'S MARRIAGE PROJECTS — LORD DARNLEY COMES 
TO SCOTLAND — ELIZABETH IS OFFENDED BY HIS MAR- 
RIAGE — TAMWORTH SENT TO MARY — MURRAY AND HIS 
PARTY ESCAPE TO ENGLAND — PURSUED BY MARY — 
ELIZABETH'S TREACHERY. 

\7* NOX, it seems, was concerned about Queen 
V. Mary's projects of marriage. He had writ- 
ten to Cecil, chief minister of Elizabeth, that he 
suspected that she was meditating a marriage with 
some foreign prince of Romish faith. Nine out 
of twelve of her council, he was assured, had 
come to favor it. It would prove the destruction 
of Scotland. The queen had been traveling 
through the country, carrying her idol, the mass, 
wherever she went, to the great annoyance and 
sorrow of the Reformed people. Her brother, 
Lord James Stuart, Earl of Murray, was opposed 
to her marriage, and on his firmness they relied 
for an escape from this peril. 



The Scottish Reformation. 241 

The favorite at this time of Queen Elizabeth 
was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and she 
would have gladly married him, for his personal 
beauty and accomplishments had won her affec- 
tions ; but her council and the people of England 
were against it on account of his inferior rank, 
and because he was suspected of having got rid 
of his wife by causing her death through what 
might seem the accident of falling down stairs. 
As Elizabeth found she could not be allowed to 
have him as a husband for herself, she conceived 
the idea of getting him married to Queen Mary. 
With all his faults, it would probably have been 
more satisfactory in the end to the English nation 
for Elizabeth to have taken him. She never 
could make up her mind afterward to marry any 
person proposed, and the danger of her dying 
without an heir to determine the succession to the 
throne kept her government and the people in 
constant worry. The next heir to the throne was 
Mary Stuart. Randolph, the envoy of Elizabeth, 
mentioned to Mary the nomination his mistress 
had made of Robert Dudley for her husband, and 



242 John Knox. 

her hope that she would speedily decide upon it. 
"Your own queen has been longer deciding than 
I have," said Mary; "and think you I shall 
marry one of her subjects?" Randolph referred 
to the succession. Mary replied, "Where is my 
assurance ?" 

Mary had been advised to marry Don Carlos 
of Spain, and, in failure of that project, to take 
another of Elizabeth's subjects, Henry Stuart, 
Lord Darnley, the eldest son of the Earl of Len- 
nox. Elizabeth was not displeased with this idea. 
Darnley' s mother was of royal descent; but Darnley 
was a Romanist, and a youth of no great intellect 
or moral worth, and the Scottish people were dis- 
gusted with the proposition. His father was also 
a Romanist, and had been banished from Scot- 
land for political offenses, but had lately received 
permission to return by Queen Mary, to the con- 
sternation of the Protestant population. On his 
arrival at court with a splendid retinue, he was 
received by the queen with the greatest cordiality, 
which he requited with rich presents to the 
queen, her secretary, Lord Athol and his wife, 



The Scottish Reformation. 243 

and to the ladies in waiting. At the next meeting 
Mary procured an act by which all his estates and 
honors were restored. By the same Parliament 
the act forbidding the mass was confirmed, and 
the performance of it was to be subject to the 
penalty of loss of goods, lands, or life, at the dis- 
cretion of the sovereign. The queen and her 
family alone were exempted from this penalty. 

Elizabeth maneuvered to prevent Darnley from 
leaving England for some time, but at last gave 
way, and he arrived at Edinburgh on the 12th of 
February, 1565. Mary was pleased with his ap- 
pearance, and soon made up her mind to marry 
him, though she purposed to amuse Elizabeth with 
seeming to favor her project concerning Leicester. 
On the Sabbath after his arrival, Darnley, to con- 
ciliate the Protestants, went to hear Knox preach 
at St. Giles. The lords of the congregation, with 
Murray at their head, would never be reconciled 
to the marriage of the queen with a Roman Cath- 
olic, foreign or native. 

Mary was surprised to find that Elizabeth, too, 

had such determined opposition to her wishes; for 

16 



244 John Knox. 

the union of the two kingdoms was a favorite idea 
of the statesmen of both realms, and Darnley had, 
next to herself, a legitimate title to the succession 
of the throne of England. 

The Gordian knot was cut by Mary resolving 
at all hazards to marry Darnley. It was so pro- 
claimed; and before her embassador to England 
could win the consent of Queen Elizabeth she 
began preparation by obtaining from her nobility 
consent to make him Earl of Ross. Elizabeth 
ordered Darnley to return to England. He re- 
plied that he acknowledged no duty or obedience 
but to the queen of Scotland. On Sunday, July 
29th, the ceremony of the marriage took place in 
the Queen's Chapel according to the ritual of the 
Church of Rome. Immediately afterwards Darnley 
went with the Roman Catholic nobles in attend- 
ance to hear mass, and on leaving the church, 
remarked, "Her majesty neither will nor may 
leave the religion wherein she has been nourished 
and brought up." This marriage resulted in the 
Providence of God in the union of Scotland and 
England, for the fruit of it was James VI, who, 



The Scottish Reformation. 245 

after his mother and father, had the best title to 
the throne of England, and on the death-bed of 
the Queen of England was nominated as her suc- 
cessor. So man proposes and God disposes. 

The determination of Mary to restore the Cath- 
olic religion by means fair or foul, was intensified 
by the influence of her Secretary of Foreign Lan- 
guages, Daniel Rizzio. This accomplished, crafty, 
and ill-fated man was the son of a professor of 
music and dancing at Turin, Italy. The Grand 
Duke of Savoy selected him on account of his 
talents as a linguist to accompany his embassador 
to the Court of Mary in 1564. He soon became 
a great favorite of the queen; was with her at all 
hours; being a devoted Catholic, he abetted all 
her schemes to revolutionize religion. He was 
particularly hostile to Murray, who seemed a chief 
pillar of the Reformation. Just before the mar- 
riage of the queen, Argyle and Murray and others 
sent a messenger to Elizabeth, requesting her aid 
in resisting the efforts making and to be made to 
restore the Catholic religion. The Earl of Bed- 
ford was sent to the border with a considerable 



246 John Knox. 

force, to be ready to assist the lords of the con- 
gregation if civil war should break out. Mary 
now liberated from prison the Earl of Huntley, 
and made him and Earl Bothwell, who had lately 
returned from England, her chief counselors in 
the emergency. On the 9th of August Mary 
called the nobility to Edinburgh for counsel. 
Elizabeth, seeing what was pending, sent Tam- 
worth, an officer of her household, to inform 
Mary that she was aware of her design to extir- 
pate out of Scotland the religion received there, 
and to gain the favor of the English Papists. She 
advised and required her to restore Murray to her 
council, to grant Protestants free exercise of their 
religion, and to make no foreign alliances to the 
prejudice of England. 

Mary replied in stinging words that as the 
Queen of England made demands, she would de- 
mand of her to restore her mother-in-law, the 
Countess of Lennox, whom Elizabeth had ordered 
into confinement. She asserted her right to marry 
whom she chose, without interference, and said 
that ' i the place she filled in relation to the crown 



The Scottish Reformation. 247 

of England was no vain or imaginary one," and 
that the Queen of England should be cautious how 
she provoked her into foreign alliances. She 
should not return Murray to favor, and wished 
Elizabeth not to meddle with her subjects, as she 
never meddled with subjects of Elizabeth. 

At another interview she named the conditions 
on which she would be friendly and leave the 
Queen of England in undisturbed possession of the 
throne during her life-time; namely, "To be ac- 
knowledged by Parliament * second person 9 in 
the succession, and Lady Lennox next after her 
and her children. And she protested that if she 
ever came to the throne she would make no 
change in the religion or liberties of England." 

Tarn worth was then dismissed with a passport, 
signed by Darnley as King of Scotland. Before 
he reached the border he was seized by the insurg- 
ents and carried to Hume Castle. 

There was now civil war in Scotland, the par- 
ticulars of which do not belong to this biography 
of Knox. Argyle and Murray and others were 
now in the Western Highlands, and Mary, at the 



248 



John Knox. 



head of five thousand troops, was in pursuit of 
them. They fell back to Edinburgh, but, finding 
the inhabitants unwilling to rise for their defense, 
they hastened to the border. No orders came to 
the Earl of Bedford to march to their succor, though 
three thousand pounds was placed in his hands 
for their aid to be given them, but not as from 
Elizabeth. Her policy was not formally and openly 
to take their part. Had she boldly come to their 
aid, it would have been easy to have protected 
them and to have crushed the ill-formed army of 
Mary. 

The insurgents sent Sir Robert Melville to 
London to represent their wants. Elizabeth ad- 
vised them to make peace on any tolerable con- 
dition ; but if the queen was implacable and cruel, 
they might be sure of her protection if they came 
to England. Gathering eighteen thousand men, 
Queen Mary marched rapidly to the border, and 
reached it just in time to see her prey fairly 
escape. 

Mary returned to Edinburgh, and Murray and 
his party sought refuge in London. When Mur- 



The Scottish Reformation. 249 

ray and the Abbot of Kilwinning, as representa- 
tives of the fugitives, were admitted to audience 
with the queen, she treated them absurdly and 
merely as rebels against their queen, with whom 
she could have no alliance ! Murray repelled the 
charge of treason with indignation. She obtained 
from Murray a statement that she had not encour- 
aged a plot to seize the person of their queen, 
which she paraded before the assembled embassa- 
dors of foreign nations in vindication of herself. 

The Earl of Murray was a man who was the 
soul of truth, but Elizabeth was false to the core 
of her heart. She spoke and acted lies whenever 
it served her caprice. Murray demanded of her 
in a private letter "what he had done to offend 
her? Her treatment of him was hard to bear." 
He relieved the false-hearted woman of his pres- 
ence, and returned to Newcastle. Earl Bedford 
was ashamed of these base transactions of his 
mistress. "What," he wrote to Cecil "hath 
England gotten by helping them after this sort? 
Even as many mortal enemies of them as before 
it had dear friends." Randolph showed the same 



250 John Knox. 



sentiments. " If there be a more mortal enemy 
to the queen, my mistress, than this woman is, I 
deserve never to be reputed but the vilest villain 
alive. " 

When the Earl of Argyle learned the treachery 
of Elizabeth, he requested Randolph to tell her 
that if she did not "reconsider herself" in ten 
days, she would regret it. The ten days expired 
without any reply, and he gave orders for his clan 
to cross over to Ireland and join Thane O'Neil to 
drive the English out of Ireland. 

At this moment Mary had an opportunity to 
make head against her rival, which might never 
happen again. She had only to be generous and 
forgiving to the insurgent lords to attach them all 
and the whole Protestant population to her person 
and dynasty. But, blinded by her bigotry and 
the influence of Rizzio, who hoped to be enriched 
by the forfeiture of the estates of the rebel no- 
blemen, she summoned a Parliament to punish 
them and forfeit their titles and estates. Murray 
applied to Cecil, Leicester, and even to Elizabeth, 
to intervene. After long delay, Elizabeth wrote 



The Scottish Reformation. 251 

that if Mary would name two commissioners she 
would name two 6 6 that some good might be done 
for the Earl of Murray;" but then she inserted 
the words " covertly, though not manifestly." In 
this skulking way did she help her friends. 

Knox had no part in this insurrection of Mur- 
ray and the lords. He and Murray had been at 
odds, as we related, but that was made up before 
these events happened. Lord Ochiltree was one 
of the insurgents. Their object was to protect the 
Protestant religion ; but the mass of the Reformers 
did not engage in it. 



252 



John Knox. 



dVaptef XIV. 

KNOX'S SERMONS OFFEND DARNLEY — FORBIDDEN TO 
PREACH — INVITED TO ST. ANDREWS — DAY OF FAST- 
ING — LEAGUE AGAINST PROTESTANTS — RIZZIO ASSASI- 
NATED. 

HAD the minister of Edinburgh participated 
in the unsuccessful revolt of the Protestant 
lords he would have been driven from his post. 
But he remained, preaching at St. Giles, and had 
the new king occasionally for a hearer. On the 
19th of August he preached on Isaiah xxvi, 13, 
14: "O Lord our God, other lords beside thee 
have had dominion over us ; but by thee only will we 
make mention of thy name. They are dead, they 
shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not 
rise : therefore hast thou visited and destroyed 
them, and made all their memory to perish." 
The lords had insinuated that he was becoming 
alienated from the reformed religion, because he 



The Scottish Reformation. 253 

did not participate in their movements. To obvi- 
ate this impression he made a more ceremonious 
appearance than usual, sitting upon a throne, 
which had been prepared for the occasion, and 
delivered this sermon. It not only made it clear 
that he had not wavered in the slightest de- 
gree, but it was taken offensively by the royal 
audience. The youthful king applied to himself 
and the queen certain quotations from the Scrip- 
tures which were made, as "I will give children 
to be their princes, and babes shall rule over 
them." Also, "Children are their oppressors and 
women rule over them." He also referred to the 
punishment and doom of Ahab, because he 
did not restrain the wickedness and idolatry of 
Jezebel. 

The queen was not present, but the agitation 
of Darnley, who was too much excited to taste 
dinner, and the reports made by him and those 
who were of his party, greatly provoked her 
anger. She gave orders for the immediate arrest 
of the preacher. He had retired to rest, wearied 
with his great exertion in preaching, and was 



254 



John Knox. 



taken from his bed and brought before the privy 
council. A .number of his devoted friends at- 
tended him to the palace. He was charged with 
having offended the king by abusive and dis- 
loyal remarks, and was ordered to desist from 
preaching so long as the court remained in Edin- 
burgh. He defended his sermon: "he had 
spoken nothing," he said, "but in accordance 
with his text, and if the Church would command 
him to speak or abstain, he would obey so far as 
the Word of God would permit him." He 
added a prophetic remark, "That as the king 
for the queen's pleasure had gone to mass, and 
dishonored the Lord God, so should he in his 
justice make her the instrument of his over- 
throw." The queen was offended and shed tears 
of mingled anger and sorrow. 

On his return to his study Knox wrote out his 
whole sermon, and sent it to the press, that the 
public might judge on what small grounds he 
was arrested. On the margin he wrote, "The 
castle of Edinburgh was shooting against the 
exiled for Christ's sake." Rather enigmatical 



The Scottish Reformation. 255 

words. In a postscript he wrote this prayer: 
' 6 Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit, for 
the terrible roaring of guns and the noise of 
armor do so pierce my heart that my soul 
thirsteth to depart." More enigmatical words, 
but better understood. The manuscript was 
dated "The last day of August, 1565, at four 
o'clock P. M.^ written indigestly, but yet truly, 
so far as my memory would serve, of those things 
that in public I spake on Sunday, August 19th, 
for which I was discharged to * preach for a 
time.' Be merciful to Thy flock, O Lord, and 
at thy pleasure put an end to my misery." 

"John Knox." 
The citizens of Edinburgh were justly agitated 
by these proceedings. Craig was requested to 
supply his place for the time, but he threatened 
to desist from preaching altogether. The town 
council immediately appointed messengers to the 
king and queen, entreating them to remove the in- 
terdict, and the next day they adopted a unanimous 
resolution, "that they would in no manner or 
way consent or grant that his mouth be closed, 



256 John Knox. 

but that he should at his pleasure and as God 
should move his heart, proceed forward to true 
doctrine as before, which doctrine they would 
approve and abide at, to their life's end." 

Before the next Sunday, their majesties de- 
parted from Edinburgh, which left him at liberty 
meanwhile to continue his preaching; and on 
their return no measures were made to enforce 
the inhibition. Some persons complained of his 
prayers for the exiled noblemen, but the Secre- 
tary Maitland, who heard them, said there was 
nothing objectionable in them. 

In December the commissioners of St. An- 
drews petitioned that Knox might be returned to 
them, with whom he had commenced his min- 
istry. Their good minister, Christopher Goodman, 
had returned to his native land, England, and 
they thought it would be a relief to Knox to 
withdraw from Edinburgh at this time. The pe- 
tition was not granted, and he went on his way, 
rejoicing to declare the whole council of God. 

The Assembly appointed him to visit the 
Churches of the south of Scotland, and to write 



The Scottish Reformation. 257 

letters to the ministers to hold on to their min- 
isterial functions though so poorly supported, and 
to draw up a form of worship for the day of 
fasting and prayer, which was appointed in view 
of the persecutions and troubles of the Protestant 
people in Europe. He was assisted in this latter 
work by his colleague and also in making out a 
statement of the reasons for such extraordinary 
services. "Some will say," they added at the 
close of this sad and ominous history of recent 
persecutions by the Papal Church and govern- 
ments, "that they are yet far from their purpose, 
and therefore we need not be so fearful nor so 
troubled. We answer, the danger may be nearer 
to our necks than we have considered. But 
howsoever it be, seeing that God of his mercy 
hath brought forth to sight this cruel and bloody 
council, in which we need not to doubt, but still 
they continue, it becometh us not to be negligent 
nor slothful." 

The queen never flagged in her purpose to re- 
store the Romish religion, though her proc- 
lamations and public talk seemed to show no 



258 John Knox. 

opposition to the Reformed religion. The king 
and several of the nobility attended mass, and 
friars preached in the popular manner of the 
Protestant preachers at Holyrood Palace. Early 
in the following year, the Cardinal Lorraine sent 
to Mary the league for the extirpation of Protest- 
ants for her signature. "She signed it, and in 
doing so," says Miss Warner, "signed her death 
warrant. From that moment her downward 
course was rapid, until her wretched life ended 
on the scaffold." The exiled noblemen were 
summoned to appear before the bar of Parliament 
on the 1 2th of March. Popish ecclesiastics were 
restored to their place in Parliament, and altars 
were prepared for Popish worship in St. Giles 
Church. Every thing was now auspicious of 
the ascendency of Papal religion. Mary, just 
before this time, wrote to the Pope, "With the 
help of God and his Holiness I expect to leap 
over the wall." 

But it is written, "The wrath of man shall 
praise thee." An event was about to transpire 
which should astound the world, and shake to its 



The Scottish Reformation. 259 

foundations the throne of Scotland. Rizzio, the 
secretary of the queen, was usurping her husband's 
place in her affections. His jealousy was excited. 
One evening, near midnight, Darnley went to the 
queen's apartment, and found the door bolted. 
After some time she appeared in her undress, and 
opened the door. Looking into a closet, he found 
Rizzio half dressed in concealment. From that 
moment the doom of the adventurer was sealed. 
Some of the Protestant nobles, Morton, Ruthven, 
Lindsay, and Maitland, had already determined 
to put him out of the way. The king conferred 
with Ruthven, who revealed the purpose of the 
nobles, and they managed to get him to sign a 
paper to assume the responsibility of the trans- 
action. The masterly pen of Froude has thus de- 
scribed it: 

"The suit of apartments occupied by Mary 
Stuart were on the first floor of Holyrood Palace. 
They communicated in the usual way by a stair- 
case with the large inner quadrangle. A door 
from the landing led directly into the presence 

chamber; inside the presence chamber was a bed- 
17 



260 John Knox. 

room, and beyond the bedroom a small cabinet 
or boudoir, not more than twelve feet square, 
containing a sofa, a table, and two or three chairs. 
Here, after the labors of the day, the queen gave 
her little supper parties. Darnley's rooms were 
immediately below, connected with the bedroom 
by a narrow spiral staircase, which opened close 
to the latter door leading to the cabinet. . . . 
After an early supper together, Ruthven, though 
so ill he could hardly stand, with his brother, 
George Douglas, Ker of Faldonside, and one 
other, followed Darnley to his room, and thence, 
with a hushed breath and stealthy steps, they 
ascended the winding stairs. A tapestry curtain 
hung before the cabinet. Leaving his companions 
in the bedroom, Darnley raised it, and entered. 
Supper was on the table. The queen was sitting 
on the sofa, Rizzio in a chair opposite to her, and 
Murray's loose sister, the Countess of Argyle, on 
one side. Arthur Erskine, the equerry, Lord 
Robert Stuart, and the queen's French physician 
were in attendance standing. 

" Darnley placed himself on the sofa at his 



The Scottish Reformation. 261 



wife's side. She asked him if he had supped. 
He muttered something, threw his arm round her 
waist, and kissed her. As she shrunk from him 
half surprised, the curtain was lifted again, and 
against the dark background, alone, his corslet 
gleaming through the fold of a crimson sash, a 
steel cap on his head, and his face pale as if he 
had risen from the grave, stood the figure of 
Ruthven. Glaring on Darnley, and answering his 
kiss with the one word ' Judas/ Mary Stuart con- 
fronted the awful apparition, and demanded the 
meaning of the intrusion. 

"Pointing to Rizzio, and with a voice sepul- 
chral as his features, Ruthven answered : 

" ' Let your man come forth; he has been here 
over long.' 

"'What has he done?' the queen answered. 
' He is here by my will. What means this ?' she 
said, turning again to Darnley. 

"The caitiff heart was already flinching. 'Ce 
rtest rienf he muttered. 'It is nothing.' 

"But those whom he had led into the business 
would not let it end in nothing. 



262 John Knox. 

"' Madam/ said Ruthven, 'he has offended 
your honor ; he has offended your husband's honor; 
he has caused your majesty to banish a great part 
of the nobility that he might be made a lord; he 
has been a destroyer of the commonwealth, and 
must learn his duty better.' 

"'Take the queen, your wife, to you/ he 
said to Darnley, as he strode forward into the 
cabinet. 

"The queen started from her seat all amazed, 
and threw herself in his way, while Rizzio cow- 
ered trembling behind her, and clung to her 
dress. 

" Stuart, Erskine, and the Frenchman, recov- 
ering from their astonishment, and seeing Ruth- 
ven apparently alone, made at him to thrust 
him out. 

" 'Lay no hands on me/ Ruthven cried, and 
drew his dagger; 'I will not be handled.' 

"In another moment Faldonside and George 
Douglas were at his side. Faldonside held a pis- 
tol at Mary Stuart's breast. The bedroom door 
behind was burst open, and the dark throng of 



The Scottish Reformation. 263 

Morton's followers poured in. Then all was con- 
fusion. The table upset, Lady Argyle catching a 
candle as it fell. Ruthven thrust the queen into 
Darnley's arms, and bade him hold her, while 
Faldonside bent Rizzio's little finger back till he 
shrieked with pain, and loosed the convulsive 
grasp with which he clung to his mistress. 

" ' Do not hurt him,' Mary said, faintly. ' If 
he has done wrong, he shall answer to justice.' 

" 'This shall justify him,' said the savage Fal- 
donside, drawing a cord out of his pocket. He 
flung a noose round Rizzio's body, and, while 
George Douglas snatched the king's dagger from 
its sheath, the poor wretch was dragged into the 
midst of tire scowling crowd, and borne away into 
the darkness. He caught Mary's bed as he 
passed. Faldonside struck him sharply on his 
wrist. He let go with a shriek, and, as he was 
hurried through the anteroom, the cries^ of his 
agony came back to Mary's ears : 1 Madam, 
madam ! Save me ! Save me ! Justice ! I am a 
dead man! Spare my life!' 

" Unhappy one, his life would not be spared! 



264 John Knox. 

They had intended to keep him prisoner through 
the night, and hang him after some form of trial; 
but vengeance would not wait for its victim. 
He was borne alive as far as the stair head, 
when George Douglas with the words, 'This is 
from the king,' drove Darnley's dagger into his 
side. A moment more and the whole fierce 
crew were on him like hounds upon a mangled 
wolf; he was stabbed through and through, with 
a hate that death was not enough to satisfy, and 
was then dragged head foremost down the stair- 
case, and lay at its foot with sixty wounds in 
him. So ended Rizzio, unmourned by living 
soul, save her whose favor had been his ruin. . . 

4 4 The queen, meanwhile fearing the worst, 
but not knowing that Rizzio was actually dead, 
had struggled into her bedroom, and was there 
left with Ruthven and her husband. Ruthven 
had followed the crowd for a moment, but not 
caring to leave Darnley alone with her had re- 
turned. She had thrown herself sobbing upon a 
seat. The earl bade her not be afraid, no harm 
was meant her; what was done was by the king's 



The Scottish Reformation. 265 

orders. ' Yours ?' she said, turning on Darnley 
as on a snake, ' was this foul act yours? Coward! 
wretch! Did I raise you out of the dust for 
this?' 

"Driven to bay, he answered sullenly that he 
had good cause, and then his foul nature rushing 
to his lips, he flung brutal taunts at her intimacy 
with Rizzio and complaints as nauseous of her 
treatment of himself. ' Now/ she said, 'you 
have taken your last of me and your farewell. 
I shall never rest till I have given you as sorrow- 
ful a heart as I have at this present/ 

"The day after this event was Sunday, March 
10th. Murray and the banished lords arrived in 
Edinburgh. The queen oblivious of her plan to 
get a bill of attainder against her brother, rushed 
into his arms on his arrival at Holyrood, and 
sobbing told him what had happened, and 
how if he had been there she would not have 
been so abused. She smothered her vengeance, 
and began to show toward her husband feelings of 
kindness, and so complete was her dissimulation 
that she won the weak-minded youth to her side. 



266 



John Knox. 



The whole aspect of affairs was changed. The 
Popish courtiers fled from the palace; the Par- 
liament was postponed without doing any thing 
of consequence, and the revolting lords were in 
the ascendant. On Monday Mary and her 
husband followed the Papal courtiers, and fled 
to Durham, where he was persuaded to send 
forth a proclamation denying his consent to the 
late tragic performances and the new measures 
of the nobles. 

"Her partisans rallied to her, and an army 
was organized, with which she marched back to 
Edinburgh. The scale again turned, and the 
conspirators fled from the country and took 
refuge with Earl Bedford at Berwick. She now 
threatened the destruction of all concerned in 
the late transactions." 



The Scottish Reformation. 267 



G\h$tet XV. 



KNOX GOES TO THE WEST — THENCE TO ENGLAND — THE 
BIRTH OF JAMES VI — THE MURDER OF DARNLEY — 
BOTHWELL SUSPECTED, TRIED, AND ACQUITTED — HE 
CARRIES OFF THE QUEEN — SHE PARDONS AND MAR- 
RIES HIM — THE NOBLES CONFEDERATE AGAINST HER — 
SHE ABDICATES IN FAVOR OF HER SON — THE COR- 
ONATION OF JAMES — MURRAY MADE REGENT. 



OHN KNOX had no participation in the con- 



J spiracy nor any knowledge of it, but as he 
had probably expressed his approbation of some 
of the measures taken, and his satisfaction at the 
death of one of the worst enemies of the Church 
and State of Scotland, he thought the animosity 
previously manifested against him by the queen and 
her consort would be so inflamed that he would 
not be safe in Edinburgh. He accordingly left his 
Church to his colleague Craig and went to Kyle 
in Western Scotland. Mary followed him with 
her spite and with letters to the nobleman with 




268 John Knox. 

whom he resided to exclude him from his hospi- 
tality. Knox had two sons in England, and he 
took this opportunity, with the favor of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, to visit them. He received letters 
of commendation to the English brethren, and 
also letters to the bishops and clergy of the Eng- 
lish Church, entreating them to show lenity to- 
ward their brethren who had scruples in respect to 
sacerdotal robes. But the queen of England was 
inflexible, and no advice of bishops or counselors 
had any influence to procure relief for minds 
troubled by what to them seemed remnants of 
Papistry. Before leaving Scotland Knox ad- 
dressed letters to the principal Protestant leaders, 
exhorting them to resist by all lawful means the 
restoration of the archbishop of St. Andrews to 
his jurisdiction, which the Act of Parliament of 
1560 had abolished. The queen had under the 
privy seal granted a commission for this purpose, 
and Knox was alarmed at this as a signal move- 
ment for restoring the Papal hierarchy. "We 
can not see," he said, "what assurance can any 
within this realm that hath professed the Lord 



The Scotish Reformation. 269 

Jesus have of life, or inheritance, if the head of 
that odious beast be cured among us." The Gen- 
eral Assembly addressed a petition to the privy 
council to the same effect. 

Three months after these events, on the 19th 
of June, 1566, the Queen of Scots gave birth to 
a son, who as James VI of Scotland and James I 
of England was destined to unite the crowns of 
the two kingdoms and to constitute the King- 
dom of Great Britain. The news reached 
Queen Elizabeth three days afterward. She 
remarked, "it was worth more to Mary Stuart's 
ambition than all the legions of Spain, and all 
the money of the Vatican." So indeed it would 
have proved, as time shows, had she been con- 
tented to await the developments of Providence, 
for Elizabeth was to have no heir, and she and 
her son were the next links in the succession. 

The birth of the son of Mary and Darnley 
did not restore their conjugal affection. Mary 
cherished in her bosom a deadly purpose of venge- 
ance upon the author of Rizzio's taking off. 
In this foul design she had an ally and accomplice 



270 John Knox. 

in James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell, to whom 
she had transferred her affections and committed 
the management of all her affairs. This bad 
man signed a bond with Argyle, Huntley, Mait- 
land and Sir James Balfour to bring about this 
destruction of Darnley. It was hinted to Mary, 
but she affected to disapprove of it. Subsequently 
it was shown that she wished it in her heart and 
finally connived at it. So open was her hatred 
of her husband that when their infant was bap- 
tized in Stirling Castle he was either not invited 
to witness the ceremony, or was absent through 
fear. Nine days afterward he secretly departed 
and abode with his father, the Earl of Lennox. 
He knew that the queen had formally pardoned 
all participants in the murder of Rizzio but him- 
self, and he saw a sword hanging over his head 
continually. 

Soon afterwards he was attacked with symp- 
toms of a loathsome disease which some called 
the small-pox, and others ascribed to poison. 
During his illness he was visited at Glasgow by his 
wife, who came thither attended by her paramour 



The Scottish Reformation. 271 

Bothwell. She made him happy for the time by 
her feigned tenderness, and blinded him to the 
dangers by which he was surrounded. It was 
planned to have him removed on pretense of 
better air to a lonely dwelling in Kirk's -field, 
which had been an old abbey, and was converted 
into a temporary palace for their use. There she 
had lodgings directly under his chamber, where 
on the 9th of February, bags of gunpowder were 
emptied ready at a convenient hour to blow up 
the building. She sat with him until ten o'clock 
that evening, and then abruptly left to attend the 
wedding feast of a favorite waiting-maid. Darn- 
ley begged her not to leave him, but she had 
promised to go. As she rose to depart she said, 
"It was just this time last year that Rizzio was 
slain." Darnley said to his servant Nelson as 
she departed, "She was very kind, but why did 
she speak of Davie's slaughter?" Directly after, 
he said, as if suspecting evil, "What will she do? 
It is very lonely." He then opened the prayer- 
book and read the fifty-fifth psalm. It was as 
pertinent to his case as if it had been written 



272 John Knox. 

for that fatal hour. " Hear my prayer, O God ; 
and hide not thyself from my petition. Take 
heed unto me and hear me; how I mourn in my 
prayer, and am vexed. The enemy crieth, and 
the ungodly come on so fast: for they are minded* 
to do me some mischief, so maliciously are they 
set against me. My heart is disgusted within me, 
and the fear of death has fallen upon me. Fear- 
fulness and trembling are come upon me, and an 
horrible dread hath overwhelmed me. . . . 
For it is not an open enemy that hath done this 
dishonor ; for then I could have borne it. . . . 
But it was even thou, my companion, my guide, 
and mine own familiar friend." 

He then undressed and went to bed. His 
page slept beside him, and Nelson was in another 
apartment of the house. Three hours after, all 
was still. At about two o'clock all Edinburgh 
was awakened by a sudden and solitary sound as 
of an earthquake or of thunder. Citizens and 
magistrates hastening to Kirk's-field, found the 
house in ruins. Persons were seen skulking from 
the garden. Nelson was found unhurt, and could 



The Scottish Reformation. 273 

only say that after he left his master and fell 
asleep " he knew nothing until he found the house 
falling about him." As morning dawned, the 
bodies of Darnley and his page were discovered 
beside a tree in the garden, but, strange to relate, 
" with no sign of fire on them," nor any other 
marks indicative of the manner of their death. 
Two thousand pounds' reward was offered for any 
information which would lead to the discovery of 
the guilty parties. A placard immediately ap- 
peared on the door of the Tolbooth, referring to 
Bothwell, Balfour, and David Chambers. Two 
days after, a different placard appeared. The 
Earl of Lennox, father of the murdered king, in- 
structed Mary to have the persons Suspected 
arrested; but she said the placards were contra- 
dictory, and she knew not which to believe. She 
put on the mourning dress of a widow, but did 
nothing more to show her regret for her hus- 
band's death, except to attend the customary Ro- 
man dirges for the repose of his soul. 

She kept company with Bothwell, to whom the 
suspicions of the people were chiefly directed. 



274 John Knox. 

Letters from Elizabeth and from Archbishop 
Beaton, her embassador at Paris, and others, 
urged her to bring him to trial. At length, hav- 
ing secured a jury favorable to his acquittal, she 
cited him to trial. But Lennox — the prosecutor 
knowing that it would be but a farce — did not 
make an appearance, and Bothwell, accordingly, 
was acquitted. Murray was so disgusted with 
her conduct that he asked permission to leave the 
country, and went to France. 

Mary continued to shower distinguished favors 
upon Bothwell. When she rode to Parliament 
she selected him to carry the crown and scepter 
before her. At length it was announced that she 
was about to marry him. A large number of the 
nobles signed a bond, expressing their conviction of 
his innocence, and approving of the match. He 
had special supporters in Argyle, Morton, Hunt- 
ley, and Maitland, who were supposed to be ac- 
complices in the murder of Darnley. But the 
marriage project was regarded with horror by the 
best of the nobility and the common people. 
Elizabeth expressed ' ' great misliking " of it, but 



The Scottish Reformation. 275 

objected to "any force " being used to prevent it. 
Bothwell saw the prize within his reach, and he 
determined to seize it at all hazards. Attended 
by eight hundred spearmen, he surprised the 
queen on her way from Stirling, where she had 
been to see her son, and carried her off to his 
castle in Dunbar. She remained a willing pris- 
oner with him some days, and then rode back to 
Edinburgh in his company. The queen was infat- 
uated with this rude, powerful, and reckless chief- 
tain, and she was determined to have him. She 
soon gave verbal directions to Craig to publish the 
banns of matrimony at St. Giles Church. At first 
he declined ; but she sent him positive orders in 
writing. He complied, but each time for the 
three successive days he boldly added, for the 
clearance of his conscience, 6 •' I take heaven and 
earth to witness that I abhor and detest this mar- 
riage as odious and slanderous to the world; and 
I would exhort the faithful to pray earnestly that 
a union against all reason and good conscience 
may yet be overruled by God, to the comfort of this 

unhappy realm. " Knox was absent from the city. 
18 



276 John Knox. 

Mary summoned the High Court to meet her 
on the 1 2th of May, and then declared to them 
that she was ' ' at first incensed with the Earl of 
Bothwell for the seizure of her person; but she 
had forgiven him in consideration of his subse- 
quent good conduct, and meant to promote 
him to still higher honors." He was thereupon 
made Earl of Orkney and Shetland, and with 
"her own hands she placed the coronet upon his 
head." The ceremony of the marriage was per- 
formed at Holyrood Palace, on the 15 th, at four 
o'clock in the morning, by the Bishop of Orkney. 
She was dressed in her widow's mourning dress — 
sad omen of the gloomy days to come. 

A confederation of nobles was soon formed 
for the purpose of protecting the infant prince 
and to avenge the murder of his father. Bothwell 
took alarm, and just one month after his marriage 
bade farewell to the queen, and escaped from the 
capital. Mary surrendered herself to the confed- 
erate lords. As she came into their presence 
they fell on their knees, when Morton, speaking 
for the rest said: "Here, madam, is the true 



The Scottish Reformation. 277 

place where your grace should be; and here we 
are ready to defend and obey you as loyally as 
ever nobility of this realm did your progenitors. " 
They judged best, a few days afterwards, to send 
her to the Castle of Lochleven, on a small island 
in the lake of that name. An antagonistic party 
in her interest was formed, and a proclamation 
was issued to the people to take up arms for her 
liberation and defense. 

Knox now appears on the stage of action at 
a meeting of the General Assembly, who declared 
themselves on the side of the confederates, and 
deputed him to go west and interest the Hamil- 
ton s and others in that section to stand by the 
confederation, and to meet a convention of dele- 
gates from the Churches on the 20th of July. 
The Hamiltons declined attending the convention, 
but it was attended largely by nobles, barons, and 
delegates of Churches ; and important resolutions 
were passed in relation to the state of the Church 
and of the nation. 

Knox stated the conditions on which he would 
ally himself with the confederates : The acts of 



s 



278 John Knox. 

the Parliament of 1560, by which Popery had been 
suppressed and the Reformation established, must 
be indorsed and enforced. It was agreed to. 
And further, the lords agreed to restore to the 
Church her forfeited property, and to appoint 
Protestant teachers to all the colleges, to put down 
idolatry, to commit the education of the prince to 
some godly and grave governor, and to punish 
the murderers of the king. 

Several deputations were made to the queen to 
persuade her to renounce Bothwell, but she stead- 
ily refused. But she said she was willing to re- 
sign the government to the Earl of Murray or to 
a council of the nobility. Finally she signed, 
with tears and a trembling hand, papers, abdicat- 
ing the throne in favor of her son. The Earl of 
Murray was absent from the country, but she 
appointed him regent, and, during his absence, 
the Duke of Chatelherault and the Earls of Len- 
nox, Argyle, Morton, Mar, and Glencairn were 
to act as regents, with power to continue in that 
office if he refused it. She gave orders for the 
immediate coronation of her son. 



The Scottish Reformation. 279 

Accordingly, with much pomp, on the 29th of 
July, 1567, the young king was crowned in the 
parish church at Stirling, and took the title of 
James VI. The Earl of Mar carried the infant 
in his arms, preceded by Athol with the crown, 
Morton bearing the scepter, and Glencairn the 
sword. The queen's abdication was read, and 
Lindsay swore it was voluntarily signed in his 
presence. Knox preached the coronation sermon. 
He objected to the ceremony of unction as Jewish 
and Popish, and so the Bishop of Orkney anointed 
the king, and placed the crown on his head. He 
was assisted by the superintendents of Lothian and 
Angus. Morton, with his hand on the New Testa- 
ment, took the oath in behalf of the king to 
"maintain the Reformed religion and extirpate 
heresy." The lords first, and afterward the citi- 
zens present, swore allegiance, each placing his 
hand on the infant king's head. He was then 
lifted from the throne, and carried back to the 
castle. It was a day of general rejoicing. Bells 
were rung in the city, and bonfires were kindled 
upon the hills. 



28o 



John Knox. 



On the 2 2d of August, Murray took the oath 
of office. At his interview with his sister he de- 
clined taking it; but at last he consented. 
Weeping as they parted, she kissed him, and sent 
her blessing to her son. 

Bothwell had fled to the Orkney Isles. Ships 
were dispatched in pursuit of him. He became a 
pirate, and was captured and imprisoned by the 
king of Denmark. He died in prison. 



The Scottish Reformation. 281 



Cfykptef XVI. 



THE HOSTILE BARONS SEND IN THEIR ALLEGIANCE — PAR- 
LIAMENT MEETS — MURRAY'S REGENCY — ESCAPE OF 
MARY — BATTLE OF LANGSIDE MOOR — FLIGHT OF MARY 
TO ENGLAND — HER TRAGIC END. 

r I ^HE barons who had formed the party in favor 



of the queen one after another sent in their 
submission to the new government. The castles of 
Edinburgh and of Dunbar were surrendered, and 
peace once more reigned in Scotland. Parlia- 
ment met on the 15th of December. John Knox 
was invited to preach the opening sermon. He 
exhorted the members to make religion their first 
concern, and Maitland, who spoke on the occa- 
sion, called their attention to the fact " that true 
religion had obtained a free course universally 
throughout the whole realm, and yet not a Scotch- 
man's blood had been shed" — a marvelous fact 
in that age of war and bloodshed on account of 




282 



John Knox. 



✓ 



religion. The painful events we have described 
were in no wise produced by religious excitement 
It was God, who "maketh the wrath of man to 
praise him, and restraineth the remainder of 
wrath." 

The Parliament sanctioned the abdication of 
Mary Stuart, the coronation of James, and the 
appointment of Murray as regent. They ratified 
the acts of 1560 against Popery, and decreed that 
no prince should hereafter exercise government 
without swearing fealty to the Protestant religion. 
The same was required of all other elective of- 
ficers. The established ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
was ratified. "The confession of faith," before 
approved, was ordered to be published. The 
third of benefices should be paid immediately to 
the salaries of the ministers. All teachers of 
schools and colleges must have a special examina- 
tion, and "the funds of provosteries, prebendaries, 
and chaplaincies were appointed to maintain 
bursars in colleges." 

Knox was made one of the commissioners on 
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, to present a plan to the 



The Scottish Reformation. 283 

next session. The General Assembly also ap- 
pointed him on the same business, and he was 
designated to assist the Superintendent of Lo- 
thian in his pastoral -visitation, and to visit the 
Churches in Kyle, Carrick. and Cunningham. 
In the discussion of the question of what disposi- 
tion should be made of the queen there was dif- 
ference of opinion. Some thought as a sovereign 
she was exempt from trial ; others thought she 
should be tried, and condemned to perpetual im- 
prisonment for complicity in murder; and others, 
among whom was Knox, believed that she should, 
like a subject, if proven guilty, be put to death, 
and that it was the only safe course to take to de- 
liver the nation from her machinations. Time has 
shown that this was, though severe, a wise and 
righteous judgment. Many thousands of lives, 
more valuable to society, would in the sequel 
have been saved by her death. An act of Parlia- 
ment was passed exonerating all who had taken 
arms to avenge the assassination of the king. 

At this crisis of affairs in the Church and State 
Knox felt that his life-work was nearly done. He 



284 



John Knox. 



saw now the helm of State in the hands of a wise 
and good pilot, and moving on in harmony with the 
best interests of true religion. He longed for rest, 
and wrote to a friend in Geneva he would be 
glad to come, and end his days among the little 
flock. But how short-sighted is mortal man! A 
storm of civil war was even then gathering on 
the horizon, the more afflicting to bear because 
the belligerents were Protestants. The house of 
Hamilton, with the Duke of Chatelherault at their 
head, a number of nobles, were not satisfied that 
Murray should be at the head of affairs. These 
the noble-hearted regent strove by every means to 
conciliate in vain. The Papists were Watching for 
a chance to release Mary. But this was effected 
by Lord Seton and George Douglas, and by ac- 
complices inside the castle walls. In the disguise 
of a servant she got down to a boat that was waiting 
for her, crossed the lake, took horse and galloped 
to Niddry, and thence to Hamilton. The disap- 
pointed nobles and their clans and friends gath- 
ered to her standard, and she was soon at the 
head of an army of six thousand men. 



The Scottish Reformation. 285 

The regent was at Glasgow, eight miles from 
Hamilton, when the news reached him. He im- 
mediately raised the standard of the king, and 
issued a proclamation rallying all loyal citizens, 
and in a few days he had an army of four thou- 
sand under his command. Rejecting the counsels 
of the timid, who advised retreat, he marched at 
once to give battle. The army of the queen was 
eager for the conflict; but the queen was not 
willing, and moved her forces to Dumfries. 
They were followed by Murray, who managed to 
bring on a battle at Langside Moor. Hurling his 
enthusiastic band against the queen's forces, they 
were broken and driven from the field with great 
slaughter. It was all over with Mary. She 
watched the fight from a neighboring hill, until 
she saw her army flying like a flock of sheep. 
She mounted a swift horse, and rode without 
stopping sixty miles to Dundrowman Abbey. 
Taking a short rest, she fled by night to Carlisle, 
and thence to Workington, where she wrote to 
Queen Elizabeth, begging for clothes and for an 
escort to London. She ran into an iron net, from 



286 John Knox. 

which she escaped not until death on the scaffold 
released her fiery and cruel soul from the earthly 
scenes, which she had done so much to fill with 
trouble. 

It is not within the scope of this biography to 
describe the long and tedious imprisonment of 
Mary, and the attempts she made to raise insur- 
rections against Elizabeth ; nor her final conspiracy 
to assassinate her, and claim her throne as the 
next in succession; nor the league of the Pope 
Sixtus V and Philip I of Spain to overthrow her 
government ; nor the terrible punishment inflicted 
on the Armada of Spain in the British Channel 
and the wild North Sea, where storms completed 
the work which England's brave seamen began. 
It will, however, be fitting to look at the end of 
this bad woman. 

I prefer to let Froude tell the frightful story.* 
M Her ladies were allowed to come up upon the 
scaffold to assist her, for the work to be done was 
considerable, and had been prepared with no 
common thought. 



*Froude's "History of England," Book XII, p. 350. 



The Scottish Reformation. 287 

"She laid her crucifix on her chair. The 
chief executioner took it as a perquisite, but was 
ordered instantly to lay it down. Her lace veil 
was lifted carefully off not to disturb the hair, 
and was hung upon the rail. The black robe was 
next removed. Below it was a petticoat of crim- 
son velvet. The black jacket was removed and 
under that was a body of crimson velvet. One 
of her ladies handed her a pair of crimson sleeves 
with which she hastily covered her arms, and 
thus she stood on the black scaffold with the 
black figures all around her, blood-red from head 
to foot. 

"Her reason for adopting so extraordinary a 
costume must be left to conjecture. It is only 
certain that it must have been carefully studied, 
and that the pictorial effect must have been 
appalling. 

"The women, whose firmness had hitherto borne 
the trial, began now to give way; spasmodic sobs 
bursting from them, which they could not check. 
'Ne criez vous/ she said, 'j'ai promis pour 
vous.' Struggling bravely, they crossed their 



288 John Knox. 

breasts again and again, she crossing them in turn, 
and bidding them pray for her. Then she knelt 
on the cushion. Barbara Mowbray bound her 
eyes with a handkerchief. 1 'Adieu," she said, 
smiling for the last time, and waving her hand to 
them, " adieu, au revoir" They stepped back 
from the scaffold and left her alone. On her 
knees she repeated the psalm/ Tnte, Domine, con- 
fide " When the psalm was finished she felt for 
the block, and, laying down her head, muttered, 
"In manus, Domine, tuas commendo animam 
meam." The hard wood seemed to hurt her, for 
she placed her hands under her neck. The exe- 
cutioners gently removed them, lest they should 
deaden the blow; and then one of them holding 
her slightly, the other raised the ax and struck. 
The scene had been too trying even for the prac- 
ticed headsman of the Tower. His arm wan- 
dered; the blow fell on the knot of the handker- 
chief, and scarcely broke the skin. She neither 
spoke nor moved. He struck her again — this 
time effectively. The head hung by a shred of 
the skin, which he divided without withdrawing 



The Scottish Reformation. 289 

the ax; and at once a metamorphosis was wit- 
nessed, strange as was ever wrought by the hand 
of fabled enchanter. The coif fell off and the 
false plaits. The labored illusion vanished. The 
lady who knelt before the block was in the ma- 
turity of grace and loveliness. The executioner, 
when he raised the head, as usual, to show it to 
the crowd, exposed the withered features of a 
grizzled, wrinkled old woman. "So perish all 
enemies of the queen," said the Dean of Peter- 
borough. A loud amen rose over the pall. 
"Such end," said the Earl of Kent, rising, and 
standing over the body, 6 ' to the queen's and the 
Gospel's enemies." 

Orders had been given that every thing she 
had worn should be immediately destroyed, that 
no relics should be carried off to work imaginary 
miracles. Silence settled down on Fotheringay, 
and the last scene of the life of Mary Stuart, in 
which tragedy and melodrama were so strangely 
intermingled, was over. 



290 



John Knox. 



C\\xpte{ XVI. 



Murray's prudent course after the flight of mary — 
he is assassinated — grief at his funeral — lennox 
succeeds him — elizabeth's army under sussex in- 
vades scotland — struggle of factions — second 
inroad of sussex — murder of lennox — knox goes 
to st. andrews — failing health — return to edin- 
burgh — last letter and sermon — death and 

FUNERAL. 



E left Murray at the battle of Langside. 



* * He was not long in subduing the hostile 
elements. But his justice to the rebels was tem- 
pered with mercy. He wrote to Elizabeth justi- 
fying his conduct to the queen. After long 
deliberation as to what to do with the royal 
prisoner, commissioners were chosen to decide 
the question of her guilt and desert of punish- 
ment. The result was that Elizabeth would not be- 
lieve that Mary was guilty of murder, nor did she 
find any ground of complaint against Murray 




The Scottish Reformation. 291 

to justify interference with his administration. 
While the question was still in debate between the 
Scottish and English courts, the infatuated party 
of the queen conspired to bring about the assas- 
sination of the regent. The first attempt was 
discovered and thwarted, the second succeeded. 
Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, was one of the 
prisoners taken at Langside, and whose life 
Murray had spared by pardon at the .scaffold. 
Instigated by revenge for the forfeiture of his 
own or his wife's estate, he followed the regent 
as he was making his progress through Glasgow, 
Stirling, and Linlinthgow. At the latter place he 
watched the approach of Murray concealed on a 
balcony, and taking deliberate aim he sent a 
musket ball into his body. The regent did not 
fall, and it was hoped that the wound was not 
mortal. But he sank under it all day and at 
evening died. Some friends about the dying 
earl lamented that he had shown so much mercy 
to his enemies, and especially to this ungrateful 
caitiff. He replied that "nothing would make 

him repent of an act of clemency." With his 
l 9 



292 John Knox. 

last breath he commended the infant king to the 
nobility present, and closed his eyes in death at 
the hour of midnight, January 23d. His body 
was brought to Leith, and afterward to its final 
rest in St. Giles Church in Edinburgh. "The 
country/' says Froude, "for the moment forgot 
its feuds to pay honor to the noblest of Scotland's 
sons." There was such sorrow and lamentation 
at this funeral as was scarcely ever seen. Knox 
preached from the • words, "Blessed are the 
dead that die in the Lord." Amid the tears 
and sobs of the common people and the nobles 
he expatiated upon his rare virtues and the irrep- 
arable loss to poor Scotland of her worthiest 
guide. 

The death of the "good regent" was such a 
blow to the great reformer, that his own health 
was prostrated and he came near dying. A 
stroke of apoplexy well-nigh deprived him of 
speech, and the report went out by his enemies 
that it was a judgment of God upon him, and he 
would never preach again. But the prediction 
was not fulfilled. In a short time he was found 



The Scottish Reformation. 293 

again in his pulpit facing the coming troubles of 
the times. 

Upon the regent's death the Earl of Lennox 
applied to Queen Elizabeth to extend her pro- 
tection to the infant king, his grandson, and she 
sent Randolph to Scotland to look after his in- 
terests and her own too, by keeping him from 
the French. He found two parties now dividing 
the land, the party of the Hamilton s, who de- 
manded the recall of Mary to the throne, and 
the party opposed to her return, headed by Mor- 
ton. The majority of the people were of the 
latter party, for they hated the name of Mary. 
A black banner was carried through the streets 
of Edinburgh, with a picture of the beloved re- 
gent dead in his bed, and beside him the mur- 
dered Darnley under a tree of Kirk's-field, by 
whose side knelt the infant prince praying for 
vengeance and protection. The friends of the 
queen on the other hand were encouraged by 
letters from the Catholics of France and Spain. 
The Hamiltons set up her banner and marched 
to Edinburgh. Randolph escaped to Berwick. 



294 John Knox. 

A petition of the lords to Elizabeth to restore 
Queen Mary was responded to by an army of 
seven thousand men marching into Scotland 
under Lord Sussex, investing castle after castle 
and destroying the villages on his way, and not a 
single estate of the Duke of Chatelherault escaped. 
Her army was then withdrawn, the insult to her 
embassador being avenged. 

On the 1 6th of June, the friends of the king 
held a convention and erected Lennox Lieutenant- 
governor under the king. Sussex was sent to 
his support with a destroying army of four thou- 
sand men. Dumbarton castle, the stronghold 
of the rebels, was taken early in 157 1. Hamilton, 
the bishop of St. Andrews, was there taken pris- 
oner and tried for complicity in the murder of 
Darnley and Murray. He was convicted and 
executed. In revenge for this the new regent 
Lennox was assassinated. The Earl of Mar was 
elected in his place, and the war went on with 
terrible ferocity. 

Edinburgh was held by rebels, and Kirkaldy 
of Grange, the friend of Knox, who was governor 



The Scotish Reformation. 295 

of the castle, he had taken the side of the Ham- 
iltons and had admitted them within its walls. 
This defection of a Reformer was a deep grief to 
Knox, who still abode in the city. Kirkaldy 
knowing that Knox's life was in danger, asked 
the Duke of Chatelherault a guard for his house. 
It was granted, but a ball fired into his window 
one evening warned his friends of his danger, 
and they entreated him to depart. He yielded, 
and with a large number of the inhabitants of 
Edinburgh left the city. To show their spite of 
him the soldiers named one of their cannon, 
placed in the steeple of St. Giles, "Knox." 
One day while firing it, it burst and killed two 
of them and wounded others. 

Knox on leaving Edinburgh traveled by short 
stages to St. Andrews, where he found no' rest 
on account of the contentions of the political 
parties. He offended the queen's party by his 
expositions of Daniel, eleventh chapter, which 
he applied to the times current and to the 
murder of the king and of Murray. Knox was 
troubled also, by regulations made by the Gen- 



296 John Knox. 

eral Assembly in relation to Church property 
and discipline under the influence of those who 
wanted to secure to themselves the revenues of 
the Church. He wrote to the Assembly at Stirl- 
ing in August, 1571, and exhorted them to pre- 
pare for the gathering storm. 

"And now, brethren," he said, "because the 
decay of natural strength threateneth my certain 
and sudden departing from the misery of this 
life, by love and conscience I. exhort you, that 
ye take heed to yourselves, and to the flock over 
which God hath placed you pastors. Unfaithful 
and traitorous to the flock shall ye be before the 
Lord Jesus Christ, if, with your consent directly 
ye suffer unworthy men to be thrust into the 
ministry of the Church, under whatever pretense 
it shall be. Remember the Judge before whom 
we must make our account, and resist that tyranny 
as ye would avoid hell-fire. This battle will be 
hard; but in the second point it will be harder, 
that is, tint with the like uprightness and 
strength of God, ye withstand the merciless 
devourers of the patrimony of the Church. If 



The Scottish Reformation. 297 

men will spoil, let them do it to their own peril 
and condemnation; but communicate ye not 
with their sins by consent or silence, but with 
public proclamation. God give you audience 
and strong courage in so just a course, and me a 
happy end." 

Some were offended with Knox because from 
conviction he declined participating, after preach- 
ing the sermon, in the consecration of Douglas, ap- 
pointed by the king archbishop of St. Andrews; and 
some intimated that it was because he was disap- 
pointed on his own account. He replied, "that 
he had refused a greater bishopric than St. An- 
drews, which he had refused from a greater man 
than Douglas had his. What he had spoken 
was for the exoneration of his conscience, that 
the Church of Scotland might not be subject to 
that order, especially after a very different one 
had been established in the ' Book of Discipline/ 
had been subscribed by the nobility, and ratified 
by Parliament. He lamented also that a burden 
should be laid upon one old man, which twenty 
men of the best gifts could not sustain." At 



298 John Knox. 

the meeting of the General Assembly he entered 
a formal protest against this procedure. 

All this time the weight of years and of trouble 
was pressing hard upon- his life. When he could 
not walk to the church without help, he persisted 
in preaching, and the fires of his youthful genius 
broke forth in strains of eloquence which seemed 
flashes of inspiration. James Melville, a student 
of the university, thus describes it in the language 
in vogue at that time. 

"Of all the benefits I haid that year [15 71,] 
was the coming of that maist notable profet and 
apostle of our nation, Mr. Jhone Knox, to St. 
Andrews, who, be the faction of the queen occu- 
peing the castell and town of Edinbrugh, was 
compellit to remove therefra, with a number of 
the best, and chusit to come to St. Andrews. I 
heard him teache there the phrophecies of Daniel, 
that Simmer, and the Wintar following; I haid my 
pen and my litle buike, and tuk away sic things 
as I could comprehend. In the opening up of 
his text, he was moderat the space of an half 
houre; but when he enterit to application, he 



The Scottish Reformation. 299 

made me so to grew, and tremble, I could not 
hald a pen to wryt. He was very weik. I saw 
him, everie day of his doctrine, go hulie, and 
fear, with a furring of marticks about his neck, a 
staffe in the an hand, and gud godlie Richart 
Ballanden, his servand, haldin up the uther ox- 
ter, from the abbey to the parish kirk, and, be 
the said Richart, and another servant, lifted up 
to the pulpit, whar he behovit to lean, at his 
first entrie; bot, ere he haid done with his ser- 
mone, he was sa active and vigorous, that he was 
lyk to ding the pulpit in blads, and flie out of it." 

Much pleasant intercourse Knox had with the 
professors and students of St. Leonard's College. 
He would walk about the grounds when able, 
and give a word of advice and cheer to the 
young men, exhorting them to diligent and 
thorough study, especially of God's Word, and 
to consecrate themselves to the great evangelism 
then going on in the earth. 

His pen was busy in preparing for publication 
his "Vindication of the Reformed Religion/' 
written in reply to a letter of Tyrie, a Scotch 



300 



John Knox. 



Jesuit. He dedicates it to the "Faithful that 
God of his mercy shall appoint to fight after 
him/' and he asks them to pray that "God in 
his mercy would put an end to his long and 
painful battle." To a farewell letter to the 
General Assembly he subscribes himself, "John 
Knox, with my dead hand, but glad heart, prais- 
ing God, that of his mercy he levis such light to 
his kirk in this desolatioun." 

When the queen's army was withdrawn from 
Edinburgh he was invited by his parishioners to 
return to them. He would comply only on con- 
dition that he should be free to declare his con- 
victions concerning the rebellious. But when 
once more in his pulpit, he found his voice was 
too feeble to fill the house. "John Knox is now 
so feeble," writes Killegrew to Cecil, "as scarce 
able to stand alone or speak to be heard of any 
audience. Yet doth he every Sunday cause him- 
self to be carried to a place where a certain 
number do hear, and preacheth with the same 
vehemency and zeal that ever he did." 

From this narrow pulpit Knox, with his dying 



The Scottish Reformation. 301 

strength, uttered the thunders of heaven's venge- 
ance upon the guilty authors of the massacre of 
St. Bartholomew, the tidings of which were wail- 
ing throughout the Christian world. The French 
embassador, Le Croc, solicited Morton to silence 
the preacher; but he was not regarded, for not a 
Protestant under heaven could help saying Amen 
to such anathemas. His last sermon was at the 
installation of his new colleague Lawson, on the 
9th of November. His subject was the cruci- 
fixion. Having finished his sermon and given his 
parting benediction to pastor and people, he 
walked slowly homeward, supported on his staff 
and the arm of a friend and followed by the 
loving people, who felt that he would never be 
seen again alive in their assembly. 

On Tuesday following he was troubled with a 
severe cough and said it was premonitory of his 
end. On Thursday he was obliged to desist 
from his cherished habit of reading daily some 
chapters in the Old and New Testaments, and 
a selection from the Psalms, such as would 
carry him through the whole of them monthly. 



302 John Knox. 

He now directed his wife and his secretary Rich- 
ard Bannatyne to read to liim daily the seven- 
teenth of John and the fifty-third of Isaiah. A 
portion of the Bible was read in his hearing 
almost every hour of the day. Calvin's sermons 
in French on Ephesians were also read to him 
occasionally. He was asked once if he heard 
what was read as he seemed to be asleep. "I 
hear (I praise God), and understand far better/' 
he said. 

He asked his wife one day to pay the servants 
their wages, for he said "They will never receive 
more from me in this world." He exhorted 
them all "to walk in the fear of God." 

On Friday he said, thinking it was Sunday, 
that he would rise and go to church and preach 
on the Resurrection of Christ, on which he had 
been meditating all night. He rose and sat up, 
but had soon to be lifted back again to bed. 

On Saturday two dear friends called to see 
him not knowing he was so ill. He begged 
them, however, to stay to dinner, and when they 
were seated he rose and came to the table for 



The Scottish Reformation. 303 

the last time. He ordered a hogshead of wine 
to be tapped, and treated his friends with his 
accustomed hilarity. He invited them to send 
for some as long as it lasted. 

Yes, they drank wine in that day, the best of 
them; but if Knox could have seen how poor 
Scotland has, since that day, suffered from drunk- 
enness and is still suffering untold misery, he 
would, we trust, like many of her noblest min- 
isters and members, on Paul's principle of 
expediency, if not on stronger ground, have 
banished the wine cup from his table. 

On Sabbath he did not attempt to rise, and 
supposing that it was the first of the days of 
fasting appointed on account of the St. Bartholo- 
mew Massacre, he declined taking dinner; until 
informed of his mistake by a friend. 

On Monday his elders and deacons called to 
see him, and he bade them an adieu which reads 
like Paul's farewell to the Elders of Ephesus. 
"The day approaches," he began, "and is now 
at the door for which I have vehemently thirsted, 
when I shall be released from my great labors 



304 John Knox. 

and innumerable sorrows, and shall be with 
Christ." .... They prayed with him and 
left weeping. 

As they were leaving he asked Law r son and 
Lindsay to tarry, saying to them, " There is 
one thing that grieves me. You have been wit- 
nesses of the former courage and constancy of 
Kirkaldy of Grange in the cause of God; but 
now, alas! into what a gulph has he precipitated 
himself! I intreat you not to refuse to go, and 
tell him from me, that John Knox remains the 
same man now when he is going to die that 
ever he knew him when able in body, and wills 
him to consider what he was, and the estate in 
which he now stands, which is a great part of 
his trouble. Neither the craggy rock in which 
he miserably confides, nor the carnal prudence 
of that man (Maitland) whom he esteems a demi- 
god, nor the assistance of strangers, shall pre- 
serve him; but he shall be disgracefully dragged 
from his nest to punishment, and hung on a 
gallows before the face of the sun, unless he 
speedily amend his life, and flee to the mercy 



The Scottish Reformation. 305 

of God. That man's soul is dear to me, and I 
would not have it perish, if I could save it." 

They saw the governor and he seemed af- 
fected, but after conferring with Maitland, who 
probably told him not to mind the old fanatic, 
he came to them with an offensive answer. 
The tragic end of both these, who died the death 
of traitors, full filled the prediction. As Kirkaldy 
stood on the scaffold he asked the attending minis- 
ter to repeat to him the last words of Knox; 6 ' he 
hoped they would prove true." 

Knox also sent to Morton, the regent, exhorting 
him to be more faithful than in times past to the 
Gospel and the State. "If ye do so God shall 
bless your house, but if ye do it not, God shall 
spoil you of these benefits and your end shall be 
ignominy and shame." Alas for Morton! at the 
scaffold he repeated the words of the dying min- 
ister and added, "I have found it so, indeed." 

On Sunday, the 23d of November, the day 
before his death, he seemed to have an earnest 
of eternal glory. "I have been in heaven," he 
exclaimed, "and have possession. I have tasted 



306 John Knox. 

the heavenly joys where I presently am." He 
added he was willing to lie in bodily pain for 
years, ' 'if God so pleased, and continued to 
shine upon his soul through Jesus Christ." 

On Monday he dressed himself and sat an 
hour, then went back to bed. To his friend 
Campbell, who asked if he had pain, "it is no 
painful pain," he said, "but such, I trust, as 
shall put an end to the battle. I must leave the 
care of my wife and children to you, to whom 
you must be a husband." At about three o'clock 
P. M., his sight and speech began to fail. His 
wife read to him the eighteenth chapter of First 
Corinthians. "Is it not a comfortable chapter?" 
he said. Soon after he said, "Now, for the last 
time, I commend my soul, spirit, and body " 
(touching three of his fingers), "into thy hand, 
O Lord." At five P. M., he said to his wife, 
"Go and read the chapter, where I first cast 
anchor." She read the seventeenth of John, and 
afterwards a little of his favorite author John 
Calvin on Ephesians. 

As he dozed he sighed, and when asked the 



The Scottish Reformation. 307 

cause he said, "I have formerly, during my frail 
life, sustained many contests, and many assaults 
fof Satan; but at present that roaring lion hath 
'assailed me most furiously, and put forth all his 
.strength to devour, and make an end of me at 
(once. Often before has he placed my sins be- 
fore my eyes, often tempted me to despair, often 
endeavored to ensnare me by the allurements of 
the world; but with these weapons, broken by 
the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, he 
could not prevail. Now he has attacked me in 
another way; the cunning serpent has labored to 
persuade me that I have merited heaven and 
eternal blessedness, by the faithful discharge of 
my ministry. But blessed be God who has en- 
abled me to beat down and quench this fiery 
dart, by suggesting to me such passages of Scrip- 
ture as these, 'What hast thou that thou hast not 
received ? By the grace of God I am what I am : 
Not I, but the grace of God in me.' Being thus 
vanquished, he left me. Wherefore I give thanks 
to my God through Jesus Christ, who was pleased 

to give me the victory; and I am persuaded that 
20 



308 John Knox. 

the tempter shall not again attack me, but, within 
a short time, I shall, without any great bodily 
pain, or anguish of mind, exchange this mortal 
and miserable life for a blessed immortality 
through Jesus Christ." 

At ten o'clock in the evening they had prayers 
later than usual, for they thought he was sleeping. 
Dr. Preston asked him if he had heard the 
prayers. " Would to God," he responded, "that 
you and all men had heard them as I have heard 
them. I praise God for that heavenly sound." 
The last words he uttered were "Now it is 
come." His servant Bannatyne spoke to him 
of his Savior and the promises he had so often 
quoted to others, and asked for a final sign if he 
was in peace. He lifted up his hand and sighing 
twice closed his eyes in death. His age was 
sixty-seven. His funeral was attended by the 
Regent Morton, the nobles of the realm, and 
multitudes of sorrowful people. Standing by his 
grave in the church of St. Giles, Morton pro- 
nounced his epitaph, "There lies he who never 
feared the face of man." 



The Scottish Reformation. 309 

In 1846 a church by the side of the house 
where he lived many years and died was erected 
as his memorial. The humble house attracts 
more the attention of the stranger than the 
lofty church. It has peaked windows and out- 
side stairs. Over its western front is inscribed, 
"Love God above all, and your neighbor as 
yourself," and a small statue of. Moses receiving 
the Law, adorns an angle of the house. These 
are the ideas that shaped his life. His star will 
never set. 



APPENDIX. 



A SERMON OR CONFESSION MADE BY JOHN 
KNOX, WHEREIN HE PROVES THE MASS 
TO BE IDOLATRY. 

The 4th of April, in the year 1550, was appointed to John 
Knox, preacher of the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ, to 
give his confession why he affirmed the mass to be 
idolatry. On which day in the presence of the council 
and congregation, amongst ivhom tvere p7'esent the bishop 
of Durham and his doctors, in this manner he began : 

This day I do appear in your presence, honorable 
auditors, to give a reason why so constantly I do af- 
firm the mass to be, and at all times to have been, 
idolatry, and abomination before God. And because 
men of great erudition in your hearing have affirmed 
the contrary, most gladly would I that here they 
were present, either in proper person or by their 
learned men, to ponder and weigh the causes moving 
me thereto, for unless I evidently prove my intents 
by God's Holy Scriptures I will recant it as wicked 
doctrine, and confess myself most worthy of grievous 
punishment. 

How difficult it is to pull forth of the hearts of 

3ii 



312 



Sermon on the Mass. 



the people the things wherein opinion of holiness 
standeth is declared by the great tumult and up- 
roar moved against Paul by Demetrius and his 
fellows, who, by their idolatry, got great advan- 
tage, as our priests have done by the mass in times 
past. The people hearing, I say, that the honor 
of their great goddess, Diana, stood in jeopardy, 
with furious voices cried, "Great is Diana of the 
Ephesians." As though they would say, we will not 
have the magnificence of our great goddess Diana, 
whom not only Asia but the whole world worships, 
called in doubt, or in question, or in controversy ; 
away with all men intending that impiety. And 
hereunto were they moved by long custom and false 
opinion. 

I know that in the mass there has not only been 
esteemed to be great holiness and honoring of God, 
but also the ground and foundation of our religion, 
so that, to the opinion of many, the mass being taken 
away, there remains no true worshiping of God in the 
earth. The deeper hath it pierced the hearts of man, 
that it occupies the place of the last and mystical 
supper of our Lord Jesus. But if I shall, by plain and 
evident Scriptures, prove the mass in her most honest 
garment to have been idolatry before God, blasphe- 
mous to the death and passion of Christ, and con- 
trary to the supper of Jesus Christ, then good hope 
have I, honorable audience and beloved brethren, 
that the sure love and obedience of God, who, in his 
Scriptures, hath spoken all verity necessary for our 



Appendix. 



3 r 3 



salvation, shall move you to give place to the same. 
O Lord eternal ! move and govern my tongue to 
speak the verity, and the hearts of the people to un- 
derstand the same. 

^ That you may the better perceive and understand 
the manner of my doctrine in this my confession, 
first, I will collect and gather the sum thereof in a 
brief and short syllogism, and hereafter explain the 
same more largely. 

The mass is idolatry. All worshiping, honoring 
or other service invented by the brain of man 
in the religion of God, without his own express 
commandments, is idolatry. The mass is invented 
by the brain of man, without any commandment of 
God. Therefore it is idolatry. 

To prove the first part I will adduce none of the 
Gentiles' sacrifices, in which, notwithstanding, there 
was less abomination than has been in the mass. 
But from God's Scriptures will I bring the witnesses 
of my words. And first, let us hear Samuel speaking 
unto Saul, after he had sacrificed unto the Lord upon 
Mount Gilgal, what time his enemies approached 
him. "Thou art become foolish," said Samuel; 
" thou hast not observed the precepts of the Lord, 
which he commanded thee. Truly the Lord had pre- 
pared to have established thy kingdom over Israel 
forever; but now thy kingdom shall not be sure." 

Let us now consider what was the offense com- 
mitted by Saul. His enemies approaching, and he 
considering that the people declined from him, and 



314 Sermon on the Mass. 



that he had not consulted with the Lord, nor offered 
sacrifice for pacifying the Lord's wrath, by reason 
that Samuel, the principal prophet and the priest, 
was not present, himself offered burnt and peace 
offerings. Here is the ground of all his iniquity. 
And from this came his rejection from the kingdom, 
that he would honor God otherwise than was com- 
manded by his express word. For he being none 
of the tribe of Levi, appointed by God's command- 
ment to make sacrifice, usurped the office not due to 
him, which was most high abomination before God, 
as by the punishment appears. 

Consider well that no excuses are admitted by God, 
as that his enemies approached, and his own people 
departed from him ; that he could not have a lawful 
minister, and gladly would he have been reconciled to 
God, and consulted with him of the end and event of 
that journey ; and therefore he, the king, anointed by 
God's commandment, made sacrifice. But none of 
all these excuses were admitted by God, but Saul was 
pronounced foolish and vain ; for God knows no hon- 
oring, nor will accept any, unless it have the express 
commandment of his own Word to be done in all 
points. And no commandment was given to the king 
to make or offer unto God any manner of sacrifice, 
which, because he took it upon him to do, he and his 
posterity were deprived of all honor in Israel. Neither 
did his pre-eminence prevail, the necessity wherein 
he stood, nor yet his good intent. But let us hear 
further. When commandment was given unto Saul 



Appendix. 



3i5 



by Samuel, in God's name, to destroy Amalek, because 
that they troubled the people of Israel passing up from 
Egypt — mark ye that, ye who now persecute the 
people of God: although your pains be deferred, yet 
are they already prepared of God — this people of 
Amalek were not punished immediately after the vio- 
lence done against Israel, but long after were com- 
manded to be destroyed by Saul — man, woman, infant, 
suckling, oxen, cattle, camels, and asses, and, finally, 
all that lived in the land. Terrible should the remem- 
brance hereof be to all such as trouble or molest such 
as would follow the commandment and vocation of 
God, leaving spiritual Egypt, the kingdom of anti- 
Christ and the abominations thereof. But Saul 
saved the king, named Agag, and permitted the 
people to save the best and fattest of the beasts 
unto the intent sacrifice should be made thereof unto 
God. But let us hear how this is accepted. Samuel 
being admonished of his disobedience, when he came 
nnto Saul asked, "What voice it was that he heard?" 
The king answered, "The people have saved the 
best and fattest beasts, thereof to make sacrifices 
unto the Lord." For he spoke as though God's com- 
mand appertained not unto him. Samuel answered, 
"Stay, and I will declare unto thee what the Lord 
hath spoken to me this night." And shortly he 
rebuked him most sharply that he had not obeyed 
the voice of the Lord ; but Saul, standing in opinion 
that he had not offended, because he did all of good 
intent, saith, " I have obeyed the Lord's voice, I have 



316 Sermon on the Mass. 



destroyed the sinners of Amalek. I have saved the 
king only, and the people have received certain 
beasts to be offered unto God." And so defended 
he his own work to be just and righteous. But thereto 
answereth Samuel, " Delighteth God in burnt offer- 
ings, and not rather that his voice be obeyed? The 
sin of witchcraft is not to obey his voice, and to be 
stubborn is the sin of idolatry." As though Samuel 
would say, " There is nothing that God more requires 
of man than obedience to his commandment; yea, he 
prefers obedience to the self-same sacrifice ordained 
by himself, and no sin is more odious in God's pres- 
ence than to disobey his voice. That God esteems 
so odious that he compares it to the two most abom- 
inable sins, incantation and idolatry, so that disobe- 
dience to his voice is actual idolatry." 

Disobedience to God's voice is not only when 
man wickedly doth contrary to the precepts of God, 
but also when of good zeal, or good intent, as we 
commonly speak, man does any thing to the honor 
or service of God which is not commanded by the 
express Word of God as in this plainly may be espied. 
For Saul transgressed not wickedly in murder, ad- 
ultery, or like external sins, but had saved an aged 
and impotent king, which thing who would not call 
a good deed of mercy? And he had permitted the 
people, as is said, to save certain beasts to be offered 
unto the Lord; thinking that therewith God would be 
content and appeased, because he and the people 
did it of good intent. But both these Samuel called 



Appendix. 



3 J 7 



idolatry; first, because they were done without any 
commandment, and secondly, because in doing thereof 
he thought himself not to have offended. 

And that is the chief idolatry where we defend 
our own inventions to be righteous in the sight of 
God, because Ave think them good, laudable, and 
pleasant. We may not think ourselves so free and 
wise that we may do unto God and unto his honor 
what we think expedient; no, the contrary is com- 
manded by God, saying, "Unto my own shall ye add 
nothing, nothing shall ye diminish therefrom, that 
ye might observe the precepts of your Lord God," 
which words are not to be understood of the decalogue 
and moral law only; but of statutes, rites, and cer- 
emonies, for God requires equal obedience to all 
his laws. 

Thirdly, and in witness thereof, Nadab and Abihu 
offering strange fire, whereof God had given them 
no charge, were, instantly as they offered it, punished 
with death by fire. The strange fire which they 
offered to God was a common fire, and not of that 
fire which God had commanded to burn day and 
night upon the altar of burnt scarifice, which only 
ought to have been offered unto God. O bishops, 
ye should have kept up this fire. At morning and at 
evening ought ye to have laid fagots thereupon, your- 
selves ought to have cleansed and carried away the 
ashes ; but God will be hallowed. 

In the punishment of these two aforesaid, it is to 
be observed that Nadab and Abihu were the principal 



3*8 



Sermon on the Mass. 



priests next to Aaron their father; and that they were 
not found in adultery, covetousness, nor desire of worldly 
honor, but of a good zeal and intent were making 
sacrifices, desiring no profit of the people thereby, 
but to honor God and mitigate his wrath; yet in the 
doing of the self-same act and sacrifice they were 
condemned with fire. Whereof it is plain that neither 
pre-eminence of the person nor man that makes or 
setteth up any religion without the express command- 
ment of God, nor the intent whereof he doeth the 
same, is accepted before God. For nothing in his 
religion will he admit without his own word ; but all 
that is added thereto he abhors, and punishes the 
inventors and doers thereof, as you have heard in 
the histories of Nadab and Abihu, also by Gideon and 
divers other Israelites, setting up something to honor 
God whereof they had no express commandment. 

Fourthly, I will recite a story which is related in 
the Popes' Chronicles, which differs not from this 
punishment of Nadab, etc. Gregory the Great, in the 
time of a most contagious pestilence, wherewith God 
punished the iniquity of Rome, for now was the wicked 
horn, that antichrist, sprung up and set in authority; 
in this time, I say, Gregory, the Pope, devised a 
new honoring of God, the invocation of saints, called 
the Litany ; whereof in the Scriptures there is neither 
authority nor commandment. Upon which sacrilege 
and idolatry God declared his wrath even as he did 
upon Nadab and Abihu, for in the instant hour wher» 
first this litany was recited in open procession, as the) 



Appendix. 



3*9 



call it, fourscore of the principal men that recited the 
same were terribly struck by the plague of God to 
death, all in one hour. The Papistry attributed this 
to the contagious air and vehemence of the plague, 
but it was nothing but a manifest declaration of God's 
wrath for inventing and bringing into the Church a 
false and diabolical religion. For while we desire 
saints to make intercession and to pray for us, what 
other thing do we than esteem the advocacy of Jesus 
Christ not to be sufficient for us ? What can be more 
devilish? 

From these things it is plain that no man on earth 
hath power or authority to determine any thing for the 
honor of God not commanded by his own Word. 

Fifthly, it profiteth nothing to say that the Church 
has power to set up, devise, or invent honoring of 
God, as it thinks most expedient for the glory of God. 
This is the continual crying of the Papists: The 
Church, the Church, hath all power, for it can not err, 
for Christ saith, "I will be with you to the end 
of the world." "Wheresoever are two or three gath- 
ered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 
Of this falsely they conclude the Church may do all 
that seems good for the glory of God, and whatsoever 
the Church does that God accepts and approves. 

Sixthly, I could evidently prove that which they 
call the Church not to be the Church and immaculate 
spouse of Jesus Christ, which does not err ; but pres- 
ently I ask if the Church of God be bound to this 
perpetual precept, "Not that thing which appears 



320 Sermon on the Mass. 



righteous in thine own eyes shall you do ; but what 
God has commanded, that observe and keep." And 
if they will deny, I desire to be certified who has 
abrogated and made the same of none effect. In my 
judgment, Jesus Christ confirms the same, saying, 
"My sheep hear my voice, and a stranger they will 
not hear, but flee from him." To hear his voice, 
which is also the voice of God the Father, is to under- 
stand and obey the same, and to fly from a stranger is 
to admit no other doctrine, worshiping, nor honoring 
of God than has proceeded forth of his own mouth ; 
as he himself testified, saying, "All that are of the 
verity hear my voice." And Paul saith, " The Church 
is founded upon the foundation of the prophets and 
apostles," which foundation, no doubt, is the law and 
the Gospel. So that it may command nothing that is 
not contained in one of the two ; for if it does so, it is 
removed from the only foundation, and so ceases to 
be the true Church of Christ. 

Seventhly, I would ask if Jesus Christ be not king 
and head of his Church. This no man will deny. If 
he be the king, then he must do the office of a king — 
which is not only to guide, rule, and defend his sub- 
jects, but also to make and decree laws, which laws 
only his subjects are bound to obey, and not the laws 
of any foreign princes. Then it becomes the Church 
of Jesus Christ to mark what he speaks, to receive and 
embrace his laws, and where he makes end of speak- 
ing and law giving ; so that all the power of the Church 
is subject to God's Word — and that is most evident by 



Appendix. 



321 



the commandment given of God unto Joshua, his 
chosen captain and leader of his people, in these 
words : " Be strong and valiant, that thou mayest do 
according to the holy law which my servant, Moses, 
commanded unto thee ; decline not from it to the right 
hand nor to the left," etc. "Let not the book of the 
law depart from thy mouth, but meditate on it both 
day and night, that you may keep and do in all things 
according to that which is written therein," etc. Here 
Joshua was not permitted to alter one jot, cere- 
mony, or statute in all the law of God, nor yet to add 
thereto, but diligently to observe that which was com- 
manded. God requires of us no less obedience than 
he did of Joshua, his servant ; for he will have the re- 
ligion ordained by his only Son, Jesus Christ, most 
straitly observed, and not violated in any part. 

Eighthly, I find a charge given to the congregation 
of Thyatira, in these words : " I say unto you and unto 
the rest that are in Thyatira who have not the doc- 
trine," meaning the diabolical doctrine before re- 
hearsed, "and who know not the deepness of Satan, 
I will put upon you none other burden but that which 
ye have ; hold till I come." Mark well, the Spirit of 
God calls all which is added to Christ's religion, the 
doctrine of the devil, and a deep invention of the ad- 
versary, Satan. As also did Paul, writing to Timothy. 
And Jesus Christ saith, " I will lay upon you none 
other burden than I have already ; and that which ye 
have, observe diligently." 

O God eternal, hast thou laid none other burden 



322 



Sermon on the Mass. 



upon us than Jesus Christ laid by his Word ? Then 
who hath burdened us with these ceremonies, fasting, 
compelled chastity, unlawful vows, invocation of saints, 
and the idolatry of the mass ? The devil, the devil, 
brethren, invented all these things to depress impru- 
dent men to perdition. 

Ninth. Paul, writing of the Lord's-supper, saith, 
" I have received and learned of the Lord that which I 
have taught you." And consider, if he addeth or per- 
mitteth one ceremony to be used other than Christ did 
use himself; but he commands them to use with rev- 
erence the Lord's institution until his returning to 
judgment. 

Tenth. Although Moses was replenished with the 
spirit of wisdom, and was more familiar with God than 
ever was any mortal man, yet was there not of all the 
ceremonies reserved to his wisdom one jot. But all 
was commanded to him, to be made according to the 
similitude shown unto him, and according as the word 
expressed. From which things I think it is plain that 
all which is added to the religion of God, without his 
own express Word, is idolatry. 

Eleventh. Yet must I answer to one objection, 
made by the Papists ; for never will they abide to be 
subject unto God's Word. The apostles, say they, in 
the council holden at Jerusalem, set up a religion, and 
made laws whereof no rule was contained in God's 
Word ; therefore, the Church may do the same. 

That there was any religion that is honoring of 
God, whereby they might merit, as they call it, any 



Appendix. 



323 



thing before God, invented in the council, they never 
are able to prove. Precepts were given, but neither 
such, nor to that intent that they allege; all precepts 
given in that council have the commandment of God, 
as afterwards shall be heard. 

First, let us hear the cause of the council. Paul 
and Barnabas had taught, amongst the Gentiles, that 
only faith in Christ's blood justifleth ; and a great mul- 
titude of the Gentiles by their doctrine embraced Jesus 
Christ, and by him truly worshiped God. Unto Anti- 
och from Judea came certain false teachers, affirming 
that unless they were circumcised according to Moses's 
law, they could not be saved. As our Papists say at 
this day, that true faith in Christ's blood is not suffi- 
cient cleansing for our sins, unless also we buy their 
mumbled masses. This controversy troubled the 
hearts and consciences of the brethren, insomuch that 
Paul and Barnabas were compelled to go to Jerusalem 
unto Peter, James, and others, I think, of the apostles, 
when, a convention being held, the question was pro- 
posed whether the Gentiles should be subjects to the 
observation of Moses's law or not. That is, whether 
only faith in Jesus Christ did justify, or the observance 
of the ceremonial law was also necessary to justifica- 
tion. After great contention, Peter expounded how, 
that the house of Cornelius, being all Gentiles, had, by 
his preaching, received Jesus Christ, and were declared 
in his presence just and righteous before God. For 
they received the Holy Ghost visibly, not only without 
observance of Moses's law, but also before they had 

21 / 



324 Sermon on the Mass. 



received any sacramental sign of Christ's religion. 
Peter concluded that to put a yoke upon the brethren's 
necks, which yoke none of the Jews could bear them- 
selves, was nothing but to tempt God ; that is, to prove 
if God would be pleased with such laws and ordi- 
nances as they would lay upon the necks of men, with- 
out his own word, — which were most extreme impiety. 
And so he concluded that the Gentiles ought not to be 
burdened with the law. Hereafter Paul and Barnabas 
declared what wondrous works God had shown by 
them amongst the Gentiles, who never observed Mo- 
ses's law. And last, James, who appears unto me to 
have been principal in that council, for he collected 
the Scriptures and pronounced sentence, as you shall 
hear, plainly declaring that the vocation of the Gen- 
tiles was prophesied before, and that they should be 
accepted and accounted the people of God ; adding* 
that no man ought to inquire a cause of God's work. 
And so he pronounced the sentence, that their liberty 
should not be diminished. 

Mark now the cause, the process, and the determi- 
nation of this council. The cause was to inquire the 
verity of certain doctrine ; that is, whether the Gentiles 
should be charged with the observation of Moses's 
law, as was affirmed and taught by some. In this 
matter they proceeded by example of God's works ; 
finding that his gracious majesty had accepted the 
Gentiles without any thralldom or ceremony being ob- 
served. Lastly were produced Scriptures, declaring so 
to have been before spoken. And, according to all 



Appendix. 



3 2 5 



these, it is concluded and designed that the Gentiles 
should not be burdened with the law. What congru- 
ence, I pray you, has the Antichrist's Council with this 
council of the apostles ? The apostles gathered to 
consult of the verity — the Papistical Council are gath- 
ered for private advantage, setting up of idolatry and 
all abominations, as their determinations manifestly 
prove. The apostles proceeded in their councils by 
the consideration of God's works and applying them 
to the present cause ; whereupon deliberation was to 
be taken and determined as God's Scriptures com- 
manded. But the Papists in their councils proceed as 
their wisdom and foolish brains think good and expe- 
dient, and concluding not only without authority of 
God's Scriptures, but also manifestly contrary to the 
same. And I offer myself most clearly to prove it, if 
any would allege that so it is not. 

But yet, they say, the apostles commanded the Gen- 
tiles to abstain from certain things, whereof they had 
no commandment of God. Let us hear the things 
which were forbidden: "Ye shall abstain," saith the 
apostle sent to Antioch, "from fornication." This is 
the commandment of God. So, although the Gentiles 
esteemed it to be no sin, yet it is expressly forbidden 
in God's law. But then follows, " From things offered 
to idols, from things strangled, and from blood shall 
ye abstain." If the cause moving the apostles to for- 
bid these things be well considered, it shall be found 
that they had the express commandment of Jesus 
Christ so to do. The spirit of truth and knowledge 



326 Sermon on the Mass. 



working in the apostles with all abundance, showed 
unto them that nothing was more profitable, and 
might advance the glory of God and increase the 
Church of Christ more than that the Jews and Gen- 
tiles should join together in familiarity and daily con- 
versation, that by mutual company love might increase. 
One thing was easy to be perceived: that the eating 
of meats forbidden in Moses's law was no sin before 
God ; for it is difficult to pull forth of the heart that 
which is planted by God's own Word ; so that the 
Jews would have abhorred the company of the Gentiles 
if they had eaten in their presence such meats as were 
forbidden in the law. The apostles considered that 
the abstaining from such things was nothing prejudi- 
cial to the liberty of Christians; for with time, and as 
the Jews grew more strong, and were better instructed, 
they would not be offended for such matters, and 
therefore commanded they the Gentiles to abstain for 
a time. For that. was not a perpetual precept this day 
declares, when no man holdeth the eating of such 
things to be sin. 

But what precept had they so to do ? The last 
and new precept given by Jesus Christ to his disciples, 
"That every one love another, as he hath loved us." 
May not Christian love command, that none of us do 
in the sight of others that which may offend or trouble 
the conscience of the infirm and weak? So witnesses 
Paul, affirming "that if a man eateth with offense, 
he sinneth." And by virtue of this same precept, 
the apostles forbid that the Gentiles shall eat things 



Appendix. 



327 



offered unto idols, etc., that bearing some part with 
the infirmity of the Jews, they may grow together in 
mutual amity and Christian love. And these are the 
conditions of the ceremonies which Paul commanded 
to be observed. I pray you, what similitude have 
our papistical laws with these precepts of the apostles ? 

But greatly is it to be marveled that men do not 
mark that the book of the Lord's law — that is, all of 
his ordinances, testament, provinces, and exhibition 
thereof — was sealed and confirmed in the days of the 
apostles, and the effect and contents thereof published, 
so that it is most extreme impiety to make any alter- 
ation therein ; yea, and the wrath and fearful maledic- 
tion of God is denounced to fall upon all them that 
dare attempt to add or diminish any thing in his 
religion, confirmed and proclaimed by his own voice. 
O Papists, where shall ye hide you from the presence 
of the Lord? Ye have perverted his law, ye have 
taken away his ordinances, ye have placed up your own 
statutes instead of his ! Woe and damnation abide you ! 
Although the apostles had made laws other than the 
express word of commandment, what appertains that 
to you? Have ye the spirit of truth and knowledge 
in abundance as they had? Was the Church of 
Christ left imperfect after the apostles' days? Bring 
yourselves to mind and be ashamed of your vanity, 
for all men, whose eyes Satan hath not blinded, may 
espy that neither wisdom nor authority of man may 
change or set up any thing in the religion of God, 
without his own express commandment and word. 



328 Sermon on the Mass. 



Thus I think the first part of my argument sufficiently 
proved, which is, that all worshiping, honoring, or 
service invented by the brain of man, in the religion 
of God, without his own express commandment is 
idolatry. 

But some will think that I have taken all this 
labor in vain ; for no man of whole judgment would 
have denied any part of this ; nor yet does it prove any 
thing of mine intent, for they say that the mass is not 
the invention of man, but the very ordinance of God. 
Then I descend to prove the mass to be the mere 
invention of man set up without any commandment 
of God. 

And first, respecting this manu missa, which we 
call the mass, I would ask of such as would defend 
that papistical abomination, Of what spirit is it dis- 
covered that "missa" shall signify a sacrifice for the 
sins of the quick and the dead? Of the Spirit of God, 
or of the spirit of man? Some will answer, from 
the Hebrew word Massah, which, according to some, 
signifies an oblation or a gift like as tribute which 
the inferiors offer or pay to the superiors. In the 
Hebrew I confess myself ignorant, but have, as God 
knoweth, served Christ to have some entrance therein. 
So of the Hebrew diction I can not contend, but men 
of great judgment in the same tongue say, that no- 
where in the Scriptures doth Massah betoken an 
oblation; but admitting that it did so, what should 
you be able to prove thereby ? My question is, 
Whether the Spirit of God has invented and pro- 



Appendix. 



3 2 9 



nounced this word missa to signify a sacrifice for the 
sins of the quick and the dead? Which if they be 
not able to prove, then they must needs confess that 
it is of man's invention, and not of God's imposition. 
I could give unto them a more apparent cause and 
derivation of that word " missa," but respecting the 
name I am not greatly solicitous. 

Secondly, I desire to be certified what they call 
their mass, whether the whole action, with all cer- 
emonies, used now, of old, or a part thereof. It will 
not satisfy the hearts of all godly people to say that 
St. James and St. Peter celebrated the first mass in 
Jerusalem or Antioch. If it were so, one of the two 
celebrated first, and the other afterward; but neither' 
of the two can be proved by Scripture. Great marvel 
it is that men shame not to lie so manifestly ! Peter 
and James, the Papists say, celebrated the first mass; 
but I shall prove that Pope Sixtus was the first that 
instituted the altars. Felix, the first of that name, 
consecrated them and the temples both. Boniface 
commanded the altars to be covered with clean cloths. 
Gregory commanded the candles to be lighted at the 
Gospel, and instituted certain cloths to be used. 
Pontianus commanded confessions to be said. And 
wherefor should I trouble you and myself both, in 
reciting what every pope added? Ye may for two- 
pence have the knowledge of what every pope added, 
until at last the whole body of the blasphemers' idol 
was compact and set up. And yet they are not 
ashamed to say St. Peter said the first mass, although 



33° Sermon on the Mass. 



many hundred years after him no such abominable 
ceremonies were invented. But they say all these 
ceremonies are not of the substance of the mass, but 
are added for good causes. What commandment 
have they received to add any thing to the ordinance 
of God, for any cause appearing to them ? 

But let them certify me, what is the mass ? The 
canon, will they answer, with the words of consecra- 
tion ? What is the authority of the canon ? Can they 
precisely tell ? Be well prepared before you answer, 
lest by neglecting yourself you be proved liars. Will 
you say that the apostles used your canon? So you 
have affirmed in times past. If the canon descended 
from the apostles to the popes, bold and malapert 
impiety it had been to have added any thing thereto ; 
for a canon is a full and sufficient rule, which in all 
parts and points is perfect. But I will prove divers 
popes to have added their portions to this holy canon. 
If they will deny this, examine what Sergius added, 
and what Leo added, and what the two Alexanders 
added, for I may not abide presently to recite all, 
but if they do not, their own law shall certify them. 

Secondly, the remembrance of such men, who 
were not born till many hundred years after the time 
of the apostles, declares the canon not to have been 
invented many years after the apostles. Who used 
to make mention of a man in his prayers before he 
be born? And much commemoration is made in the 
canon of men and women, of whose holiness and 
godly life credible histories make little mention, which 



Appendix. 



33 1 



is an evident testimony that your holy canon is vain 
and of none effect. And if any will take upon him to 
defend the same, I will prove that therein is an in- 
digested, barbarous, foolish congestion of words, im- 
perfection of sentences, ungodly invocations and 
diabolical conjurations. And this is that holy canon 
whose authority precelleth all Scriptures ! Oh, it was 
so holy, it might not be spoken plainly as the rest, 
but secretly it behooved to be whispered, for if all men 
heard it, some would have espied the vanity thereof. 

But to the words of consecration. I desire to 
know by whom they have that name? By Jesus 
Christ, they will say. But nowhere are they able to 
prove that the words which he pronounced in his last 
Supper, either he or any of his apostles after him 
called "words of consecration." And so they have 
received the name by the authority of man. What 
are the words? Let us hear. "Take and eat ye all 
of this, for this is my body — in like manner he took 
the cup after supper, saying," etc. Let us inquire if 
any thing be here added to Christ's words, or if any 
thing be changed or altered therein. First, in which 
of the four evangelists are these words "all of this," 
spoken of the bread? Jesus Christ spoke them of the 
cup, but not of the bread. O Papists, ye have made 
alteration, not so much in words as in deed. And 
of the actions commanded to be used by him, 
they permit all to eat of the bread, but the cup ye 
reserved to you, ye clipped crowns and anointed 
upon the fingers; and on pain of your great anathe- 



332 



Sermon on the Mass. 



matization, of your great cursing, ye forbade that any 
layman should presume to drink thereof. But tell 
me, Papists, were the apostles clipped and sinewet 
as ye all? Or will ye, can ye say, that the congrega- 
tion of the Corinthians were Papist priests? I think 
ye will not; and yet they all drank of the cup, like as 
they ate of the bread. Mark, brethren, that of Christ's 
own words they make alteration. 

But let us proceed. They say, " Hoc est enim corpus 
meum" (for this is my body); I pray them where found 
they "enim?" Is not this their own invention, and 
added of their own brain ? Oh here they make a 
great matter, and here lies a secret mystery and 
hidden operation ; for in five words the Virgin Mary 
conceived, say they, when she conceived the Son of 
God. What if she had spoken seventeen or twenty 
words, or what if she had not spoken three, should 
thereby the determinate counsel have been impeded? 
But, O Papists, is God a juggler? Uses he a certain 
number of words in performing his intent? But 
whereto are ye ascended, to be exalted in knowledge 
and wisdom above Jesus Christ? He saith only, 
" Hoc est corpus meum." But ye, as though there 
lacked something necessarily requisite, have added 
"enim," saying, "Hoc est enim corpus meum," so 
that your affirmation makes all perfect! 

Consider, I exhort you, beloved brethren, if they 
have not added, here of their own invention, to 
Christ's words. And as they add, so they steal from 
them. Christ saith, "This is my body, which is 



Appendix. 



333 



given for you or broken for you." These last words, 
wherein stands our whole comfort, they omit and 
make no mention of them. And what can be judged 
more bold or wicked than to alter Christ's words, to 
add Unto them, and to diminish from them ? Had it 
not been convenient, after they had introduced Jesus 
Christ's speaking, that his own words had been re- 
cited, nothing interchanged, added, nor diminished, 
which, seeing they have not done, but have done the 
express contrary, as before is proved, I think it is in 
vain further to labor to prove the rest of this abom- 
inable action to be invented and devised by the brain 
of man, and so can it not be denied to be idolatry. 

It shall not profit them to say the epistle and Gos- 
pel are in the mass, whereunto nothing is added. 
What shall they prove thereby ? For the epistle and 
Gospel, as themselves do confess, are not of the sub- 
stance of the mass. And although they were, it 
would not excuse the rest of the idolatry ; for the 
devil may speak the words of God and his false proph- 
ets also, and yet thereby are they neither better nor 
more holy. The epistle and Gospel are God's words, 
I confess, but they are spoken in the mass for no edi- 
fication of the people, but to be a cloak unto the 
body of that mischievous idolatry. All the actions are 
abominable, because it is the invention of man; and 
so a few or certain good words can not sanctify that 
whole mass and body of abomination. But what if I 
shall admit to the Papists that the whole action of the 
mass was the institution and very ordinance of God, 



334 Sermon on the Mass. 



and never a jot of man's invention therein. Were I 
to admit it to be the ordinance of God (which it is 
not), yet will I prove it to be abomination before 
God. 

The second syllogism. All honoring and service 
of God, whereunto is added a wicked opinion, is abom- 
ination. Unto the mass is added a wicked opinion. 
Therefore the mass is abomination. 

The first part, I think, no godly man will deny ; 
but if any should do so, I ask, What made the self- 
same sacrifice, instituted and ordained to be used by 
God's express commandment, to be odious and abom- 
inable in his sight ? As it is written, " Bring unto me 
no more your vain sacrifices ; your burnt offerings are 
abomination ; your new moons and conventions I may 
not abide; your solemn feasts, I hate them from the 
heart." And also, "Whoso slayeth an ox killeth a 
man ; that is, doth me no less dishonor than if he had 
killed a man." "Whoso slayeth a sheep," saith he, 
" choketh a dog." "Whoso bringeth meat offerings 
unto me, doth offer swine's blood." These two beasts, 
the dog and swine, were abomination to be offered in 
sacrifice — the one for cruelty, the other for filthiness. 
But, O priests, your sacrifices are mixed with the blood 
of dogs and swine ; while that on the one part you do 
most cruelly persecute the preachers of God's Word, 
upon the other part you yourselves live most filthily. 
The prophet proceeds, "Who maketh a memorial of 
incense praiseth the things that are vain." Amos says, 
"I hold and detest your solemn feasts; I will not ac- 



Appendix. 



335 



cept your burnt offerings, and meat offerings are not 
thankful before me." And why all this ? " Because," 
saith the prophet Isaiah, " they have chosen these in 
their own ways, and their own hearts have delighted 
in their abominations.'' And plain it is that their 
aforesaid sacrifices were commanded to be done by 
God, and were not invented — no, not one jot thereof — 
by man's wisdom. Read the Books of Moses, Exo- 
dus and Leviticus, and you shall perceive them to be 
the very commandments of God. 'And yet," saith 
the prophet, " they have chosen them in their own 
ways;" whereby the prophet meant and understood 
that they had added unto them an opinion which 
made them to be abominable before God. 

The opinion was, as in the same prophet and di- 
vers others may be perceived, that by working of the 
external work they might purchase honor of God, and 
make satisfaction for their sins by the same sacrifices. 
And that I collect from Jeremiah, saying, "Ye believe 
false words, which shall not profit you ; for when ye 
have stolen, murdered, committed adultery and per- 
jury, etc., then ye come and stand before me in this 
house, which hath my name given unto it ; and ye say, 
We are delivered or absolved, although we have done 
all these abominations." They thought and verily be- 
lieved, their sins to have been remitted by virtue of 
their sacrifice offered. But Isaiah asketh of them, 
"Why spend ye silver for that which is not sure, and 
perform labor for that which does not satiate?" Ye 
do hide yourselves with lies (but they esteemed them 



336 



Sermon on the Mass. 



to have been verities), and you make a bond or cove- 
nant with death, but it shall not stand, for when de- 
struction cometh it shall overwhelm you. Their false 
prophets had taught them to cry peace, peace, when 
yet there was no peace in their consciences ; for they 
which did eat the sin of the people (as our priests have 
long done, for the more wicked men were, the more 
desire they had of the mass, thinking, by virtue thereof, 
all was cleansed), the pestilent priests of Moses's law, 
as the prophets witness, caused the people to believe 
that by oblation of the sacrifice they were just and in- 
nocent, and durst desire for such offerings, the plagues 
and wrath of God to be removed. But it is answered 
unto them by the prophet Micah, "Shall I come into 
his presence with burnt offerings and calves of a year 
old ? Or do a thousand rams please him, or ten thou- 
sand rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for ex- 
piation of mine iniquity, or the fruit of my womb a 
sin offering for my soul?" Here the prophet plainly 
witnessed that no external work, however excellent it 
be, doth cleanse or make satisfaction for sin. And so, 
from these things, it is plain that a wicked opinion, 
added to the very work, sacrifice, or ceremony com- 
manded by God to be done and used, makes it abomi- 
nation and idolatry. For idolatry is not only to wor- 
ship that thing which is not God, but also to trust or 
lean unto that which is not God and hath not in itself 
all sufficiency. And therefore Paul calleth covetous 
men idolaters, because their confidence and trust is in 
their riches ; much more would he call him an idola- 



Appendix. 



337 



ter whose heart believeth remission of sins by a vain 
work, done by himself or by any other in his name. 

But now let us hear if unto the mass be joined a 
wicked opinion. It plainly has been taught, by law it 
is decreed, and in the words of the mass it is expressed, 
that the mass is a sacrifice and oblation for the sins of 
the quick and dead, so that remission of sins was un- 
doubtedly believed by that same action and work then 
done by the priests. Sufficient it were for me, by the 
plain words of the aforesaid prophets, here to conclude 
it to be abomination, seeing they plainly show that re- 
mission of sins cometh only of the mere mercy of God, 
without any deserving of us, or of our works proceed- 
ing of ourselves. By Isaiah, God says, " I am he 
which removeth thy iniquity, and that for my own 
sake." 

But if I will prove this aforesaid opinion which 
has been holden of the mass to be false, deceivable, 
and vain, and that it is no sacrifice for sin, shall then 
other customs, long process of time, or a multitude of 
Papistical patrons defend that it is not abomination 
and idolatry ? And, first, I ask, Who offers this sacri- 
fice, and what is offered ? The priest (say the Papists) 
offers Jesus Christ unto the Father. Then demand I, 
if a man can offer unto God a more precious thing 
than we offer unto God — a holy, lively, and reasonable 
sacrifice, which he calleth our own bodies. And Je- 
sus Christ, having nothing more precious than himself, 
offered up himself. If Paul had known any other sac- 
rifice after the death of Jesus Christ ; that is, in all 



338 Sermon on the Mass. 



the time of the New Testament, more acceptable to 
God than the mortification of our own bodies, would 
he not have advertised us thereof? If there were any- 
other sacrifice, and he did not know thereof, then the 
spirit led him not into all verity, which, to say, were 
blasphemy. If he knew it, and yet did not advertise 
us thereof, then he did not the office of a true preacher, 
and to that were like impiety. If any might have 
offered Jesus Christ but himself only, in vain it had 
been for him to have suffered such cruel torments in 
his own person by oblation of himself. And so, to 
'affirm that mortal man may offer him who is immortal 
God, in my opinion is malapert pride. 

But let us hear more. Paul saith, " By an oblation 
hath he made perfect forever those that are sanctified." 
And also, "Remission of sins once gotten, there re- 
maineth no more sacrifice." They can not avoid 
Paul's words, although they say Paul speaks of the 
Levitical sacrifice. No, Papists, he excludes all man- 
ner of sacrifices, saying, " No more sacrifice remain- 
eth," and that Jesus Christ himself testified upon the 
cross, saying, " It is finished;" that is, whatever is re- 
quired for pacifying my Father's wrath justly moved 
against sinners ; whatever is necessary for reconcilia- 
tion of mankind to the favor of my Eternal Father, 
and whatever the sins of the whole world required, is 
now complete and ended, so that no further sacrifice 
remain eth for sin. 

Hear, ye Papists, two witnesses speak against you; 
how can you deny the opinion of your mass to be false 



Appendix. 



339 



and vain ? Ye say that it is a sacrifice for sin, but Je- 
sus Christ and Paul say the death of Christ alone was 
sufficient sacrifice for sin, and after it remaineth no 
more sacrifice; speak, or else ye are like to be con- 
demned. I know you will say it is none other sacri- 
fice, but the self-same ; that it is iterated and renewed. 
But the words of Paul bind you so strait that ye may * 
not escape. For in his whole disputation he not only 
contends that there is no other sacrifice for sin, but 
also that the self-same sacrifice, once offered, is suffi- 
cient, and never may be offered again. For otherwise 
the death of Christ should be of no greater price, value, 
nor estimation than the death of those beasts which 
were offered under the law, which are proved to be of 
none effect nor strength, because it behooves them to 
be oftentimes repeated. The apostle, by comparing 
Jesus Christ to the Levitical priests, and his sacrifice 
unto theirs, makes the matter plain that Christ might 
be offered but once. First, the Levitical priests were 
mortal, and therefore it behooved them to be real suc- 
cessors ; but Christ is an eternal priest, and therefore 
is alone and needeth no successors. Second, the Le- 
vitical priests offered the blood of beasts, but Jesus 
Christ offered his own body and blood. Also the Le- 
vitical priests, because of the impotence of their sac- 
rifice, repeated the same ; but the sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ, having in itself all perfection, needeth not to 
be repeated ; yea, to affirm that it ought or may be 
repeated, is extreme blasphemy — for that were to im- 
pute imperfection thereupon, contrary to the whole 

22 



340 Sermon on the Mass. 



religion and plain words of Paul, saying, "Such is our 
High Priest, holy, just, unpolluted, separate from 
sinners, and higher than the heavens, to whom it is 
not necessary, every day to offer, as did those priests 
first offer for their own sins, and then for the sins of 
the people, for that he hath done once when he of- 
fered himself." What words can be more plain? 
Here Paul showeth all causes wherefore it needeth 
not that Christ should be offered again, and would 
conclude that he may not be offered again. Yet say 
they, it repugn eth nothing that we offer Christ, so that 
he not offer himself. The text saith plainly, as before 
is showed, that Christ only might offer himself ; which 
sacrifice is sufficient and never may be offered again. 
"For if it had behooved him to have been oftener 
offered than once, he should have suffered oftentimes 
from the beginning of the world. But once hath he 
appeared for the taking away of sin, offering himself," 
that is, of his own body, once slain, now living, and 
which may suffer death no more. "For by his one 
only sacrifice hath he made us perfect, and sanctified 
us forever.'' Here is my answer to that objection, 
which some make. Men every day sin, therefore it is 
necessary that every day sacrifice be made for sin. 
Paul saith, "By one sacrifice hath he confirmed us 
forever;" for otherwise his death were not the only 
and sufficient sacrifice for our sins, to affirm which 
were blasphemy. And so there remain eth of our whole 
redemption nothing unto his second coming, which shall 
be to judgment; when we, depending upon him, 



Appendix. 



34i 



shall receive honor and glory; but his enemies shall 
be made a footstool to his feet. Not that I mean that 
his death ought not to be preached and the remem- 
brance thereof extolled and praised in the right ad- 
ministration of his supper, but neither of these two 
are sacrifice for sin. What will ye answer to this, 
which Paul produces against your mass? He plainly 
saith, "There is no sacrifice for sin, but in Christ's 
death only, and that neither may ye offer him, nor 
yet may he offer himself any more." You will say, 
It is a memorial sacrifice, under which Jesus Christ is 
offered unto the presence of God the Father by the 
Church, under the appearance of bread and wine, 
for remission of sins. I answer with Paul, "He 
appeareth now in the presence of God for us." So 
that it is not requisite that any man offer or represent 
him to the Father, for that he doth himself, making 
continual intercession for us. 

But let us consider the doctrine more deeply. The 
Church, say they, offered Jesus Christ unto God the 
Father for a memorial sacrifice, or in a memorial 
sacrifice. Is there any oblivion or forgetfulness be- 
fallen God the Father, and hath he forgotten the death 
and passion of Jesus Christ, that he need to be brought 
in memory thereof by mortal man? Behold, brethren, 
how that impiety discloses and declareth itself! Can 
there be any greater blasphemy than to say, God the 
Father hath forgotten the benefits which he gave to 
mankind in his only son Jesus! And whosoever will 
say that they offer any memorial sacrifice or remem- 



342 Sermon on the Mass. 



brance thereof unto God doth plainly say that God 
hath forgotten them, for otherwise what needed a 
representation or remembrance ? Mark, Papists, and 
consider how Satan hath blinded you; ye do man- 
ifestly lie, and do not perceive the same. Ye do 
blaspheme God at every word, and can ye not repent? 
They say it is an applicatory sacrifice, a sacrifice 
whereby they do and may apply the merits of Christ's 
passion unto sinners. They will be buyers too of 
plasters! but I fear the wound is not well ripened, 
and that therefore the plasters are unprofitable. You 
say you may apply the merits of Christ's passion to 
whom you list. This is proudly spoken. Then you 
may make peace with God at your pleasure. But 
he saith the contrary in these words, "Who may 
make ?" Here God saith, that there is none who may 
move his wrath against his chosen. And here ye 
ought to rejoice, brethren; neither the Pope, nor his 
priests, nor bishops may cause God to be angry 
against you ; although they curse you with cross, bell, 
and candle ; so may r no man compel him to love or 
receive any in favor but whom it pleases his infinite 
goodness. Moses, I confess, prayed for the people 
when God was displeased with them, but he spoke not 
so proudly as you do, but desired God either to remit 
the offense of the people, or else to destroy him alto- 
gether with them. I fear that your love is not so 
fervent. He obtained his petition of God. 

But will you say, so it was determined before in 
the counsels of God? Advise you well. The nature of 



Appendix. 



343 



God is to be free and enthralled unto nothing, for 
although he is bound and obliged to fulfill all that 
his Word promises to the faithful believers, yet that 
is neither subjection nor thralldom, for freely he made 
his promise, and freely he fulfills the same. I desire 
to be certified when God made his promise unto you, 
Papist priests, that you should have the power to 
apply, as you say, the merits of Christ's passion to all 
and sundry who told and numbered money to you for 
that purpose, Does God take any part of the profit 
that you reserve? Alas, I have compassion upon your 
vanity, but more upon the simple people that have 
been deceived by you and your false doctrine. Are 
you better heard by God than Samuel was? He 
prayed for King" Saul, and that most fervently, and 
yet obtained not his petition, nor might apply any 
merits or holiness to him. And it is said to Jeremiah" 
" Pray ye not for this people, for my heart is not to- 
ward them, no, though Moses and Elias should pray 
for them, yet would I not hear them, and although 
they offer burnt offerings, I take no pleasure in it. 
And therefore pray not for this people, nor yet make 
any intercession for them, for I will not hear thee." 

What say ye to these words, Papists ? The prophet 
is forbidden to pray ; for God saith he neither will 
hear him, nor yet the people; he will accept none of 
their sacrifices, and that because the people manifestly 
rebelled against God, rejoiced in iniquity, committed 
idolatry and abomination. And he manifestly shows 
that nothing may appease him but true repentance, and 



344 Sermon on the Mass. 



conversion again unto God. O priests, hath there not 
as great iniquity abounded in your days as ever did from 
the beginning? Have not you been enticers and 
leaders of the people to all idolatry? Yea, has not 
the mischievous example of your abominable lives 
provoked thousands unto iniquity? And yet ye 
do say that yt may apply the merits of Christ's pa^ion 
to whom ye list! Hear ye riot that God never will 
accept prayers and sacrifice whilst true repentance 
was not found? Of that ye were dumb and always 
kept silence. Your clamor and crying was, "Come, 
come to the mass ; buy with money, substance, and 
possessions remission of your sins ; we have the merits 
of Christ's passion,, we may offer Jesus Christ unto 
the Father, whom he must needs receive as an ac- 
ceptable sacrifice and satisfaction for all our sins." 
Think not, brethren, that I allege any thing upon 
them which they themselves do not speak, as their 
own law and mass shall testify. 

In the beginning of the canon, the proud priest, 
lifting up his eyes, as though he had God always bound 
to his commandment, saith, "We beseech thee, most 
merciful Father, by Jesus Christ our Lord, that thou 
receive and bless this untasted sacrifice" (unsavory 
sacrifice truly he might have said), "which we offer 
to thee for thy universal Church." O proud and 
perverse prelates and priests, who gave you that 
authority ? Is it not expressly forbidden by the 
Apostle Paul that any man should usurp the honor 
to make sacrifice, except he be called by God, as was 



Appendix. 



345 



Aaron ? Have ye the same commandment which 
was given unto Aaron? His sacrifices are abridged 
by Christ. Let us hear where ye are commanded to 
make sacrifice. Search the Scriptures, but search 
them with judgment. It will not be " Hoc facite," 
for that is spoken of eating, drinking, and thanksgiv- 
ing, and not of sacrifice making. Advise with others 
that have more appearance to prove your intent; for 
if this be well pondered, the weight of them will de- 
press the proudness of your papistical prietshood. 

Now I will collect shortly all that is said to prove 
that the mass is no sacrifice for sin. Mark the new 
testament is eternal, that is, being once made, it can 
never be dissolved, and therefore the blood where- 
with it is confirmed is eternal, for it is the blood of the 
eternal Son of God. Only the blood of Jesus Christ 
taketh away our sins, for it is he alone that taketh 
away the sins of the world; and who by his own 
blood hath reconciled all. For if sin might have been 
otherwise taken away, then Christ had died in vain, 
and if full remission stood not in him alone, then they 
that ate him still hungered, and they that drank him 
still thirsted, and that was contrary to his own words. 
"The blood of Christ is once offered," and it is suffi- 
cient, for it is the eternal blood of the eternal Son of 
God. And " by his own blood hath he once entered 
into the holy place." Therefore the blood of Christ 
once offered remaineth forever for purgation of all 
sins. And so there remaineth then no sacrifice in the 
mass. Mark that' this reason is precedent and gives 



346 



Sermon on the Mass. 



place to the verity, for which the Scriptures of God 
shall be held to be authority; never are they able to do 
away these arguments. 

Consider now, brethren, if the opinion of the mass 
be not vain, false, and deceivable. Caused they not 
you to believe that it was a sacrifice, whereby remis- 
sion of sins was obtained ? And you may plainly 
perceive that there is no sacrifice, nor at any time was 
there any for sins, but the death of Jesus Christ only. 
For the sacrifices of the old law were only figures of 
that real and true sacrifice once offered by Jesus 
Christ. And in them was commemoration of sins 
made, but remission of sin was neither obtained nor 
cleansing made by any such sacrifice. What will ye 
do, Papist priests ? There remaineth no sacrifice to 
be offered for sin by you or by any mortal man. These 
are dolorous tidings unto your hearts, and no marvel, 
for by the vain opinion that the mass was a sacrifice 
for sin have ye so quietly rested by that flow of Eu- 
phrates, that is, in all worldly felicity, which flowed 
unto you as a continual flood. But the mass is known 
not only to be no sacrifice, but also to be idolatry. 
The waters appear to dry up, and it is likely that ye 
lack some liquor to refeshyour tongues, being scorched 
with drought and intolerable heat. Would ye then 
hear glad tidings ? What if I, as one willing to play 
the good fellow and not to be stiff-necked should allow 
to you that the mass were a sacrifice for sin, and that 
ye did offer Jesus Christ for sin, Avould ye be content 
if this were granted unto you ? I think ye would. 



Appendtx. 



347 



Then let us consider what should follow thereupon. 
A sacrifice for sin was never perfect until the animal 
offered was slain. If in your mass ye offer Jesns Christ 
for sin, then necessarily in your mass must ye needs kill 
Jesus Christ. Do not esteem, beloved brethren, these 
words briefly spoken to be vain and of small effect. 
They are collected from the very ground of Scripture, 
for they plainly testify that for Christ to be offered, 
Christ to suffer, and Christ to shed his blood or die, 
are all one thing. Paul, in the Epistle to the He- 
brews saith, He appears now in the presence of God 
for us not to offer himself oftentimes for us, for 
otherwise it behooved him to have suffered often- 
times from the beginning of the world. Mark well, 
that Paul makes to offer and suffer both to be one 
thing; and therefore he proves that Christ made but 
one sacrifice, because he once did suffer the death. 
Jesus Christ saith, as it is written in Matthew, "This 
is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be 
shed for you and for many for remission of sins." 
Mark that remission of sins is attributed to the shed- 
ding of Christ's blood. And Paul saith, "Christ 
is dead for our sins." And in another place, "By 
one oblation or sacrifice hath he made us perfect for- 
ever." Consider diligently, that remission of sins is 
attributed sometimes to the shedding of Christ's 
blood, sometimes to his death, and sometimes to the 
whole sacrifice which he made in suffering all pain. 
And why this ? Is it because there are divers manners 
to obtain remission of sins? No, but because every 



34§ 



Sermon on the Mass. 



one of these three necessarily follows the others, 
remission of sins, it is commonly ascribed to any of 
them. For wherever Christ is offered, there is his 
blood shed, and his death subsequently follows. 

And so, Papists, if ye offer Christ in sacrifice for 
sin, ye shed his blood and thus newly slay him. Mark 
to what sin your own desire shall bring you ! Even 
to be slayers of Jesus Christ ! You will say, you never 
pretended such abomination. I dispute not what you 
intended, but only I show what absurdity doth follow 
upon your own doctrine. For necessarily if ye do 
offer Christ for sin, as ye do confess, and as your law 
teaches, ye cruelly do shed his blood, and finally 
do slay him. But now will I relieve you of this an- 
guish. Grievous it were daily to commit manslaughter 
and oftentimes to crucify the King of Glory. But 
be not afraid, ye do it not; for Jesus Christ may 
suffer no more, shed his blood no more, die no 
more. For that he died, he died for sin, and 
that once and now he liveth, and death may not 
prevail against him. And so ye do not slay Christ, 
for ye have no power to do the same. Only ye have 
deceived the people, causing them to believe that ye 
offered Jesus Christ in sacrifice for sin in your mass, 
which is frivolous and false ; for Jesus Christ may not 
be offered, because he may not die. 

I most gently exhort all who desire to object 
against what I have said, rightly to consider the 
ground thereof, which stands not upon the opinion 
of man, but upon the infallible Word of God, and to 



Appendix. 



349 



resume every part of these arguments, and lay them 
to the whole body of God's Scriptures; and then, I 
doubt not, but all men whose senses the prince of 
darkness and of this world hath not blinded, shall 
confess with me that in the mass there can be no 
sacrifice for sin. And yet, to the great blasphemy of 
Christ's death, and the open denial of his passion, it 
has been affirmed, taught, and believed, that the mass 
was a sacrifice for the sins of the quick and the dead, 
which opinion is most false, vain, and wicked. And 
so I think no man of indifferent judgment will deny 
the mass to be abomination and idolatry. 

Let no man intend to excuse the mass by precept 
of the Lord's-supper ; for now I will shortly prove 
that therewith it hath no congruence, but is expressly 
contrary to it, and hath taken the remembrance of 
the same out of mind. And further, it is blasphemous 
to the death of Jesus Christ. They are contrary in 
their institution, for the Lord's-supper was instituted 
to be a perpetual memorial of those benefits which 
we have received by Jesus Christ, and by his death. 
And first we should call to mind in what estate we 
stood in our father Adam, when in him we all blas- 
phemed the majesty of God to his face. Secondly, 
that his own incomprehensible goodness moved him 
to love us, most wretched and miserable, the most 
wicked and blasphemous. And most perfect love 
compelled him to show mercy, and mercy pronounced 
the sentence, which was, that his only Son should pay 
the price of our redemption. Which thing being 



Sermon on the Mass. 



rightly called to memory in the present action of the 
Supper, could not but move us to unfeigned thanks- 
giving unto God the Father and to his only Son Jesus, 
who hath restored us again to liberty and life. And 
that is it which Paul commands, saying, "As oft as 
ye shall eat of this bread, and drink of this cup, ye 
shall declare the Lord's death till he come." That 
is, ye shall laud, magnify, and extol the liberal kind- 
ness of God the Father, and the infinite benefits which 
ye have received by Christ's death. 

But the mass is instituted, as the plain words 
thereof and their own laws do witness, to be a sacrifice 
for the sins of the quick and dead; for doing of 
which sacrifice God is bound, not only to remit our 
sins, but also to give unto us whatever we will ask. 
And this is shown by the divers masses celebrated for 
divers causes, some for peace in time of war, some 
for rain, some for fair weather, yea, and (alas, my heart 
abhors such abomination) some for sickness of beasts. 
They will say, they severally make prayers for ob- 
taining such things, and that is all which I desire 
they should say — for obtaining such vain trifles they 
destine their whole purpose, and so profane the sacra- 
ment of Christ's body and blood (if that were any 
sacrament which % they abused so), which should never 
be used but in memory of Christ's death. Then it 
should not be used to pray that the toothache be taken 
away from us, that our oxen should not take the 
lowing ill, our horses the spavin or fersie, and so of 
all manner of diseases of our cattle. Was it wherefore 



Appendix. 



35 1 



ye would not say mass, perverse Papists? But let us 
hear more : the Supper of our Lord is the gift of Jesus 
Christ, in which we should laud the infinite mercy of 
God. The mass is a sacrifice which Ave offer unto 
God, for doing whereof we allege God should love and 
commend us. In the Supper of the Lord we confess 
ourselves redeemed from sin by the death and blood 
of Jesus Christ only. In the mass we crave remission 
of sins, yea, and whatsoever thing w T e list, by working 
of that same work which we then ourselves do. And 
herein the mass is blasphemous unto Christ and his 
passion. For in so far as it offers or promises remis- 
sion of sin, it imputes imperfections upon Christ and 
his sacrifice; affirming that all sins are not remitted 
by his death, but that a great part are reserved to be 
cleansed by virtue and the value of the mass. Also it is 
injurious to Christ Jesus, and that not only by speak- 
ing most falsely of him, but also by usurping to itself 
that which is proper to him alone. For he affirms 
that he alone has, by his own death, purged the sins 
of the world, and that no part remains to be cleansed 
by any other means. But the mass sings another 
song, which is that every day, by that oblation offered 
by the priests, sin is purged and remission obtained. 

Consider, Papists, what honor your mass gives 
unto Christ Jesus. Lastly, in the Supper of the Lord 
Ave grant ourselves eternal debtors unto God, and 
unable in any Avay to make satisfaction for his infinite 
benefits which Ave have received. But in the mass we 
allege God to be debtor unto us for the oblation of 



352 Sermon on the Mass. 



that sacrifice, which we there offer, and dare affirm 
that we there make satisfaction by doing thereof, for 
the sins of ourselves and others. Let men judge with 
indifference, if these be not contrary to each other. 
They differ in use ; for in the Lord's-supper the min- 
ister and congregation eat both at one table, and no 
difference is betwixt them in pre-eminence or habit, as 
witnesses Jesus Christ with his disciples, and the 
practice of his apostles after his death. But in the 
papistical mass, the priests (for so will they be styled) 
are placed by themselves at an altar. And I would 
ask of the authority thereof, and what Scripture com- 
mandeth so to be done. They must be clad in a several 
habit, whereof no mention is made in the New Testa- 
ment. It will not excuse them to say, Paul com- 
manded all to be done with order and decently. Dare 
they be so bold as to affirm that the Supper of Jesus 
Christ was done without order and indecently, wherein 
were seen no such disguised vestments? Or will 
they set up to us again the Levitical priesthood ? 
Should not all be taught according to the plain word? 
Prelates and priests, I ask one question. Ye would 
be like to the vestments of Aaron in all things : Aaron 
had affixed unto his garments certain bells, which 
were commanded to ring, and to make sound, as oft 
as he was clad therewith. But, priests, your bells 
want tongues, they ring not, they sound nothing but 
of the earth, the people understand nothing of your 
ceremonies. Fear ye not the wrath of God? It was 
commanded Aaron, that the sound of his bells should 



Appendix. 



353 



be heard, that he died not. Consider this, for the 
matter appertaineth unto you ! 

In the Supper of the Lord we all equally partici- 
pate, the bread being broken and the cup being 
distributed amongst all, according to his holy com- 
mandment. In the papistical mass the congregation 
get nothing except the beholding of your jerkings, 
noddings, crossings, turnings, upliftings, all of which 
are nothing but a diabolical profanation of Christ's 
Supper. Now jerk, cross, and nod as ye list, they are 
but your inventions. And finally, brethren, ye 
got nothing at all but gazing and beholding, while one 
did eat and drink all. It shall not excuse you to say 
that the congregation participate spiritually. O 
wicked antichrists, saith not Jesus Christ, " Eat of this, 
drink of this, all do this in remembrance of me?" Christ 
commanded not that one should gaze upon it, bow, jerk, 
and beck thereto, but that we should eat and drink 
thereof ourselves, and not that we should behold 
others do the same ; unless we would confess the 
death of Jesus Christ not to appertain to us. For 
when I eat and drink at that table, I openly confess 
the fruit and virtue of Christ's body, of his blood and 
passion to appertain to myself; and that I am a mem- 
ber of his mystical body, and that God the Father 
is appeased with me, notwithstanding my first cor- 
ruptions and present infirmities. Judge, brethren, 
what comfort hath this taken from us, who will 
that the sight thereof shall be sufficient. I would ask, 
first, if the sight of corporeal meat and drink doth 



354 Sermon on the Mass. 



feed or nourish the body? I think they will say nay, 
and I affirm that the soul receives no more profit in 
beholding another eat and drink the Lord's true 
supper (as for their idolatry it is always damnable), 
than the body in beholding another eat and drink, 
and you receiving no part thereof. 

And now, brethren, let this contrariety be collected. 
In the Lord's-supper are offered thanks for the bene- 
fits which we have received of God. In the mass 
the Papist will compel God to grant all that he asks 
of him, by virtue of that sacrifice; and so he alleges 
that God should refer thanks unto him that doth the 
mass. In the Supper of the Lord the partakers 
humbly confess themselves redeemed only by Christ's 
blood, which once w r as shed. In the mass the priest 
vaunts to himself to make a sacrifice for the sins of 
quick and dead. In the Lord's-supper, all the 
partakers of that table grant and confess themselves 
debtors unto God; unable to return thanks for the 
benefits which we have received of his liberality. In 
the papistical mass the priest alleges that God is a 
debtor to him, and unto all them for whom he makes 
that sacrifice; so he affirms remission of sins is to be 
obtained thereby. And in that the mass is blasphe- 
mous to Christ's death. In the Lord's-supper all sit 
at one table, no difference in habit or vestment be- 
tween the minister and congregation. In the papist- 
ical mass the priests are placed by themselves at an 
altar, as they call it, and are clad in disguised gar- 
ments. In the Lord's-supper all eat of one bread and 



Appendix. 



355 



drink of one cup. But in the mischievous mass one 
man did eat and drink all. 

Consider now, beloved brethren, what have the 
fruits of the mass been, even in the greatest purity. 
The mass is nothing but the invention of man, set up 
for honoring of God, without any authority of God's 
Word, and therefore it is idolatry. Unto it is added a 
vain, false, deceivable, and most wicked opinion, that 
is, that by it is obtained remission of sins, and there- 
fore it is abomination before God. It is contrary to 
the Supper of Jesus Christ, and has taken away the 
right use and remembrance thereof, and therefore 
it is blasphemous to Christ's death. 

Maintain and defend the papistical mass whoso 
list, this honor and service unto God did all which 
used the same. And here I speak not of the most 
abominable abuses, such as buying and selling, used 
now of late by the mischievous priests, but of the 
mass in her high degree and most honest garments ; 
even of the great Gaudeamus sung or said by Gregory 
the Great, as Papists do call him. 

Let no man think that because I am in the realm 
of England, therefore I speak so boldly against this 
abomination; no, God has taken that suspicion from 
me. For this my body lying in most painful bonds in 
the midst of cruel tyrants, his mercy and goodness 
prompted that the hand should write, and bear wit- 
ness to the confession of the heart more abundantly 
than ever yet tongue spake. 

And here I call my God to record, that neither profit 
23 



356 Sermon on the Mass. 



to myself, hatred to any person or persons, nor affection 
or favor that I bear towards any private man, causes 
me \his day to speak as you have heard; but only the 
obedience which I owe to God in ministration and 
showing of his Word, and the common love which I 
bear to the salvation of all men. For so odious and 
abominable I know the mass to be in God's presence, 
that unless they decline from the same they never 
can attain to life. And, therefore, brethren, flee from 
that idolatry rather than from present death. 

Here would I have spoken of the diversity of sac- 
rifices, but neither time nor the present opportunity per- 
mit that I do so. I will you should observe, that where 
I say there remains no sacrifice to be offered for sin, 
neither yet are there any priests having power to offer 
such oblations. Otherwise I do know that all true 
Christians are kings and priests, and do daily offer 
unto God a sacrifice most acceptable; even the mor- 
tification of their affections, as Paul commanded the 
Romans. But hereof may not I remain to speak at 
presen t. 

Such doctrine as was taught in your audience, 
on Sunday before noon, I will prove as oppor- 
tunity will permit, by God's Scriptures, not only to 
be unprofitable, but also erroneous and deceivable. 
But first, according to my promise I will send unto 
the teacher, the extract thereof to add or diminish, as 
by his wisdom shall be thought most expedient. For 
God knoweth my mind is not captiously inclined to 
entrap men in words. But, my only desire being, 



Appendix. 



357 



that ye, my audience, may be instructed in the verity, 
wherefrom dissenteth some of the doctrine taught you 
(if I have collected it truly) it moves me to speak against 
ail that may have appearance of lies and superstition. 

And pray with me, brethren, that the Spirit may 
be ministered unto me in abundance, to speak at all 
times as it becomes a true messenger. And I will 
likewise pray that ye may hear, understand, and obey 
with all reverence, the good will of God, declared 
unto the world by Jesus Christ, whose omnipotent 
Spirit remain with you forever. Amen. Give the 
glory to God alone. 

John Knox. 



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